The Purple Moon II
by CrystallicPrincess
Summary: What happened after Will Turner left Elizabeth on that island. Few years later, however, what urges Elizabeth Turner to leave her son, Samuel Turner, alone on that same island? - Includes Non-existing Characters in the movie: OC
1. Prologue

**The Purple Moon **

**Prologue **

Author: CrystallicPrincess

"_Yo, ho, haul together, _

_Hoist the colors high._"

The numberless drops of rain fell on Elizabeth Turner's face as she walked on the boat's deck. The departure was imminent, and the weather was perfect for a sail on the sea. The waves, going berserk, were carrying her ship right to left, right to left... Her crew members were ready, and sang along with her as if to give each other some bits of courage in such a big storm.

"_Heave ho! Thieves and beggars,_"

Among all the noise at sea, she could hear a child's voice, calling out at her. "Mother!"

It came from ashore. She gazed up. Samuel was there, soaked by the endless rain, and still bellowing her name and waving at her. He was only thirteen years old, and had no rights to come with her.

"Samuel! I promise I'll come back as soon as possible. You stay home and don't talk to strangers," she shouted back, as loudly as possible as the ship parted away.

For now, she was more worried than anything else. Would her son be able to survive by himself while she was out there, looking for _him_? She had to trust him when he said that he was old enough to take care of himself. He was sweet and mature enough to have accepted her departure. The captain Swann had instructed Mr. Gibbs to come and check in once in a while and to provide Samuel with any need.

"Mother!"

"_Never shall we die._"

The strong waves conducted Samuel's mother's boat away from his sight very quickly. She was gone for sure. The King of Pirates had to answer the call of the sea. One day, Samuel was taught that he would have to answer to it as well, but not now. He was too young, apparently. He slowly walked home, ignoring the wind that blew his wet hair over his face, and forgetting his own hunger.

"_The King and his men _

_Stole the Queen from her bed _

_And bound her in her Bones. _

_The seas be ours _

_And by the powers _

_Where we will we'll roam._"

Little did Samuel know of the journey he'd have to take later because of this farewell. For now, all that mattered for him was to stay alive until she came back...

_**But she never did...**_


	2. Chapter 1

**Ugh... You will excuse my boring writing style... please? For those who might have misunderstood, this is the story of Samuel Turner. We'll see the other pirates from the movie later... I can't wait to put cliffhangers to it... (even though I often apologize, I'm evil... eh eh eh...)  
Oh well... please enjoy!**

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**The Purple Moon**

Part 1

Author: CrystallicPrincess

The dark clouds had finally vanished, leaving the sky blue and the wind fresh. Samuel closed his eyes, and relaxed.

It was time, at last.

He grabbed the little food he had left from what Uncle Gibbs had brought him last time he came, his pistol, his sword, the compass his mother pretended his father had brought her back when he was born, seventeen years ago, and a map.

"_Yo, ho, haul together, _

_Hoist the colors high. _

_Heave ho! Thieves and beggars, _

_Never shall we die._"

Samuel put the little of his possessions in the raft he had been able to construct, installed himself and gave a silent farewell to the island where he was born, before he took the oars and left. It was a good thing his parents had taught him how to navigate at sea.

The _Isla de la Tortuga _was crowded with pirates at this time of the year. Either they were hiding from the East Indian Company, either they were restocking, and having fun. Elizabeth Turner couldn't have sailed the Seven Seas for four years without halting here every once in a while. Following this, Samuel hoped to find his mother in the taverns. His raft well-hidden and all his possessions in a bag he always carried with him, Samuel looked everywhere.

"Yes, I've seen Capt'n Swan, but it's a pity, you've just missed her. She left, Love," said the bar attendee. "What's a young boy like yourself doing here on your own?" she asked, lifting his chin up with her big fingers, examining his face features.

Uneasy, the lad pulled away. "It's none of your business."

Everywhere he laid his eyes on, there were pirates, and either they were sleeping, eating, drinking, talking, plotting, and/or laughing. It was quite noisy in here, contrary to where he came from...

He thought about it. "I'm looking for a crew to enroll in," he admitted, but he purposely omitted to say why. "Do you know of one?" he asked.

"THE SEA WITCH'S BOAT IS HERE!" screamed someone.

Excited by this, everyone ran outside, towards the port. No one. No one was left in the bar, except Helga herself, and him.

"Ugh! Those men are so noisy," mumbled a voice next to him, as everyone ran out.

The voice came out of one of the six black coated figures. Their voices and their faces could hardly be deciphered by the hood they were wearing.

"Helga, give me six of these," it ordered. It was probably the captain and his crew, because they seemed to be from the same group.

Samuel didn't wait for the bar attendee's answer, he threw a coin on the table and left with the other pirates. Who was this Sea Witch? Had she seen his mother? When they arrived on the port, all he could see was that near the shore, there was a big maelstrom, and in the middle, floating in normal water, was the ship. From where he was, he couldn't see much.

"It's _The Coraline_!" whispered someone next to him.

"What are you talking about? It's _The Crimson Wave_!" exclaimed some other random chap.

Some girls in the crowd made a face, and some other looked like they were going to slap that mate.

"No, it's _The Coral Line_," said another one behind him.

"You've got it all wrong, it's _The_ _Foam Rider_."

Perplex, the lad took someone's telescope and took a closer look on the hull of the boat where he was able to read: '_Insert Name here_'.

'_What kind of Captain wouldn't__ know his ship__'__s name?_' he thought, but gave the telescope back and peered around, looking for his mother, just in case she was back, but didn't see anyone.

"No, it's _The Crimson Pearl_, _The Black Pearl_'s sibling! It's one of those ships who don't leave anything behind them. No survivors, no treasure."

"If there were no survivors, would there even be rumours about it?" asked a witted someone.

Following this remark, there was an awkward silence. If someone had indeed survived, how did he or she do it? Was he or she still alive to talk about it?

"I wonder if they need another crew member," said some other guy around him.

"With the Sea Witch's Powers, they must've found loads of treasures."

"But women bring bad luck," protested another one.

"Not this one, lad. They say that _The Coraline_only needs six men to ride it. They wouldn't't need another crew member. Other people say _The Coraline_'s crew is all consisted of women," said a rather familiar voice.

Immature, some chaps whistled, but the main question remained: 'When will the Captain and his crew - whether they were women or men - decide to come to the island?'. Samuel turned away and looked around once again, ticked off by this familiar male voice.

"I believe that _The Coraline_ is a Ghost Ship. No one has ever really seen the crew working on it, and no one has ever seen the crew going ashore last time, when they recruited that old pirate, last time."

It was Mr. Gibbs! He wasn't supposed to know that Samuel was gone from the island!Quickly, the young man backed away and returned to the Helga's tavern, where he could find a place to sleep.

"You have the nicest drink of this island, Helga. Now, can I ask you if anyone's up to enrolling in my crew? We're lacking one mate, see? Don't pick me someone too old, like last time. That old geezer got eaten by -"

"That boy right there," Helga answered, before the cloaked person could continue, pointing at him. "He's looking for a crew to join. He looks young enough."

The six black coated people turned their gaze at him. No one spoke, and they seemed to examine his very own soul. Somewhat pressured by the awkward silence, he backed away until he touched the wall.

"I'll go fetch the stuff you need, Capt'n. You guys just talk to the kid," decided Helga as she disappeared behind the bar.

They waited for a minute, until they were sure the fat lady was gone.

"Screw the hood! I can't see anything with that!" the Captain removed her black hood, letting her black hair cascade down to her shoulders.

She wore glasses that made her dark eyes appear even shinier in the dim light of the deserted tavern. Samuel was shocked, because not only was this a woman, but she seemed to have the same age as he had!

"So, wanna join me crew, lad?"

"Karen! I told you not to reveal your face to strangers!" said another voice, the person standing up so quickly that the girl's hood fell over her shoulders along with her long black hair.

"Phew, I'm glad we can remove the hoods now. I felt pretty hot in there. Thanks for giving us the permission, Makoto!"said one of the crew members.

They were all girls with black hair and five of them had glasses, he could therefore guess that they were originally from the South China Sea, just like the legendary Sao Feng. They all seemed alike to an inexperienced eye, but there were some differences between them. For example, one of them wore glasses and had this glance that made it seem like she was unemotional. Her hair was short and cut square beneath her chin.

Another one, the only young woman without glasses, was a lot shorter than the others. She wore her hair loose and long, beneath her shoulders. She seemed to be inseparable with her mate, with glasses, who had some inches taller than her, and who was kind of smiling stupidly at him.

The named Makoto was the tallest of them, and her thin hair was as long as the Short Girl's, maybe even more, and also seemed to be the most fearful.

The last girl was staring at the cup of rum, and she was the second tallest.

They came from the Eastern Indian Sea, near Singapore, and were probably ex-crewmen of Sao Feng (since they had this asian-like appearance), whom had given his succession to Samuel's mother.

"Your name, kid? Your age, and what you do best, and also why you wish to join a crew," demanded the female captain, readjusting her glasses.

"I'm - um - I'm Samuel, and I'm seventeen years old," answered the 'lad'. "And stop acting as if you're older than me! You don't even look like -"

"Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy, and I'm older than you, yay!"added the Short One, shaking his hand too friendly to be piraty. "So, what brings you at sea?"she continued, before getting slapped by the one he now knew as Makoto and dragged away.

"Your attitude is no piraty at all!" warned the young female sailor. "Makoto's the name, and I'm warning you, you'll be the only guy in the ship. Where we come from, men bring bad luck."

What was she talking about? Here, only women brought bad luck to the ship!

"Where's your boat?" Samuel demanded to change the conversation.

The girls did nothing to answer. Lucy was sipping her drink slowly, avoiding looking at him. Makoto was hitting another girl which Lucy always stuck with, who squealed like a cat. Karen was kicking the bar with her wet boots, trying to make a hole in it. Another girl with glasses – Samuel later learned her name was Sera - was mumbling some random recipe to herself, obviously, she was the ship's cook. The last one stared at him, unemotionally and her glare seemed to pierce his whole body, dissecting him and getting, that way, to know his very past.

"You don't have a ship?!" he concluded, glaring away from the Unemotional Girl to the Captain, named Karen. "You're just kidding me!"

"No, Samuel, that's not -" started Lucy, at last looking at him in the eye, but he pushed the door open and left towards the port, where, perhaps, he could find another crew to join.

Helga's Tavern was populated by weird pirates. He couldn't go sleep there.

Plus, Mr. Gibbs could find him quite easily anywhere in the _Isla de la Tortuga. _

He would have to sleep in his flat boat again... but at least this time; his sleep wouldn't be rocked by the ocean's waves, because he'd doze on the island. The maelstrom created around the _Insert Name here_ ship made it more than impossible to leave or to enter the piece of continent (and that was mostly why the East Indian Company could not enter the isle to capture the pirates and execute them).

As he prepared his bed, he heard something move behind the bushes, held his breath, and looked up. There were two young pirates talking. Neither of them was facing him, so he felt a bit safer.

"I'll be quick: the song has been sung," announced a young man to another one. "Listen," and he blew on a coin, and Samuel distinctively heard thought the echo the song that called the Brethren Court together. "Tell your Captain to sail You-Know-Where. He must honour the call, just as the other Pirate Lords," decided the lad. "See you then!"

As he transformed his raft into a bed, Samuel thought about it. The Brethren Court was to gather up and probably talk about the East India Trading Company's doings. Surely, the King of Pirates should attend to it as well; his mother was surely to honor the call. He promised himself that the next morning, he would try to get on a ship going to Shipwreck Island.


	3. Chapter 2

**There! I posted it! Finally! I hope that I haven't put any anachronisms in the story up to now... (Again, apologizing for my lame writing style...)  
I will also start putting titles to the chapters (I suck in those... so I'll try not spoiling anything to you guys...) ****  
Surprise! Here's a part where maybe you'll recognize someone very familiar! (up to now, you guys have only met Elizabeth Swann and Mr. Gibbs... and briefly, at that...)  
Oh well... Please read and enjoy! If you've enjoyed, you could... cough review please? **

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**The Purple Moon**

**Part 2: **

By: CrystallicPrincess

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The waves were carrying the raft far far away from the island. The storm had ripped the main and only mast of the small boat away from the sailor. The young man screamed for help. He had not wished to go this far of **the** island.

The scream of his dream awoke Samuel from his slumber the next morning.

'_This dream again..._' he thought.

Using his elbows, he got up and inspected the port, with a circular look around.

Something was far from right.

Some ships had already sailed away, but the rest just seemed... abandoned. He didn't know how to describe this feeling. There was no wind. The weather was bad for a departure. Nothing could be heard... this could prove to be quite troublesome for his search of a boat to enroll in.

"Ahoy, mate! What might you be doing here?" asked an odd bearded man when the young chap showed up on the port, carrying his goods in a bag and inspecting the boats around.

"Err... did something happen here last night?" he asked back.

"You most likely did not answer my question, lad," remarked the man, caressing his goatee beard in a rather uncanny manner with one hand, and waving back and forth a bottle of rum.

"Why should I answer you?" Samuel thought this nauseous person had some balance problem, because he kept waving in the air in some even stranger way than his manners.

"Because I may have answers that you need."

The man wore an eerie tricorn captain hat, trousers that looked like they had been worn out from a long, long walk, and a shirt that was partly ripped and mostly dried with sweat. Over his shoulders laid a light blue colour waistcoat. From all those garments, the young man could see some shiny odd-looking trinkets. His brown hair was wildly tangled and so long that it passed his shoulders. It was also half hidden by a red bandana that could be seen under his tricorn hat. He looked like he was more than drunk.

A pirate.

"I don't trust you."

"I'm not asking for such an honour, but for your name, chap."

Funny enough, Samuel had this feeling that he should obey and give the captain his name. Maybe the stranger would accept to welcome him in his crew and sail towards the Shipwreck Island, but he knew he mustn't dream... After all, they were both strangers...

"Samuel," he started. "Samuel Turner."

"Turner..." mumbled the man, in his thin looking beard. "What a common name it is..." he continued without paying attention to the quizzical look his chitchat companion gave him. "Well, Samuel Turner, are you willing to sail with me across the sea? I have something important I must attend to, and I feel like I must have you in my crew in order for it to turn out well."

Samuel was born with pride. He did not wish for this man to see how desperate he was, so he took some time to think.

"Yes, I accept being in your crew for that time. Where exactly are you going?"

"Ever heard of Shipwreck Cove, lad?"

"Y-yes."

He could hardly avoid looking hopeful and content. This sailor was going the same way he needed to go to!

"Well, I'm going to journey away from that cursed place."

"What?! How come, Capt'n?"

His world was scattered in pieces. What kind of luck was this? He finally found someone somewhat _normal_ (more normal than the six girls he had seen the other day at least...) and that person was going the opposite way!

"Because last time I was called there, nearly died, mate."

So this sailor was actually one of the Nine Pirate Lords?

Smirking as he saw Samuel's surprised expression, the Pirate Lord stood up from the barrel he was sitting on. "So, you ready to sail now, mate?"

The young man nodded. He didn't have anything else to do here, plus, he had to leave before Mr. Gibbs found him and kicked him on **that** bloody deserted island again. Hopefully, he would be able to convince his new leader that since he was one of the Nine Pirate Lords, he needed to honour the call, just like all the other eight captains, or, if he didn't succeed, he could just abandon ship and find another way back there.

"Good, let's go now, young man." and he left walking in zigzag (what you would expect from someone with balance problems) towards the other side of the port.

"Wait! What's your name?" Samuel asked, running after his new captain and realizing he didn't know such a detail.

"I'll say it once and once, mate, so listen well, and don't forget: My name is Jack Sparrow," the man answered without even turning back to take a look at him.

Samuel Turner's eyes wide opened as he stopped there. This was Uncle Jack Sparrow! The one his mother had been talking about for all the time she had raised him.

Now that he thought of it, he should've had recognized him by his odd posture and everything... but the fact was that the young Samuel had only met Jack Sparrow in his imagination, through his mother's words. Meeting the infamous captain in real life had been one of his childhood dreams.

He wondered if Jack even recognized him as being Elizabeth and Will Turner's child. He decided wise not to tell Jack, or else... the man might ask him where his mother was, and send him back **_there_,** where everyone seemed to wish him to stay.

The Pirate Prince therefore shook vigorously his head and followed his new captain in hopes of bringing his adoptive uncle back to his senses before it was too late and that Barbossa and the other Pirate Lords came to find him.

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Little did he know how wrong he was...


	4. Chapter 3: A Cousin’s niece’s aun

**I must say that... I'm happy that I got so much... hits? Thanks for reading! And feel free to Review! And tell me if there's something wrong with the chronology or something...! **

**This chapter is particularly interesting, because we're going to discover WHY exactly this story... is... weird... XD Enjoy! **

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**The Purple Moon **

**Part 3: A Cousin's niece's aunt's brother's mother's uncle's nephew's son, thrice removed**  
Author: CrystallicPrincess

The raft majestically rowed slowly through the powerful waves carrying it the all the way towards the unknown. There was nothing but the mighty sea to be seen around this more-than-tiny vessel.

"Oh lord! Why did I even accept this?" asked Samuel, as he glared at the man sitting before him.

All he had learned about what had occurred the night before he had met Jack Sparrow was that the Sea Witch's ship had left at midnight and that some pirates, not feeling safe anymore (the Sea Witch was protecting them from being caught by the East India Trading Company by changing the weather around the _Isla de la Tortuga_ with the maelstrom, for example), also left.

"Relax, won't you lad? Next time, you'll learn never to trust a pirate," answered Jack as he took a look at this compass that let one see the location of one's heart's true desire. "Let us go south then..."

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Samuel, snatching the compass and inspecting it. He thought about where he really wanted to go: Shipwreck Island, so that he could finally find his mother, the Pirate King, but the arrow, strangely enough, went south...

Was this wrenched compass broken or something? Or... was it that Jack wanted to go to Shipwreck Cove as much as Samuel did? He decided not to question Jack's orders. If he couldn't bring his uncle to the Cove, maybe he could at least trick him into going there!

"Far far away from that damned place, y'know that already, chap!" replied the captain as he spread Sao Feng's Map in front of them, and started playing with it.

"Think about it, Jack! You should honour the call, just as the other Pirate Lords, right?" questioned the young man, putting the Magical Compass down next to the map so that the captain wouldn't doubt his own orders.

"I honoured it once, t'is good 'nough for me, mate," retorted the man as he took a mouthful of rum out of the bottle he was holding.

"No, not good enough! If you have pledged to be Pirate Lord, you **must** honour the song each time it's been sung!" argued the shipmate. "And besides, how can you be captain of a raft? You tricked me into helping you flee your duty. The next time we reach land, I'm leaving!" promised Samuel, trying to change the subject of the conversation as subtly as he could.

"Now, now now, fellow, calm down. Do you see any piece of land anywhere?" asked his mate, looking around for any land. "Looks like we'll be stuck together for longer than you can imagine..." he resumed when he saw none. "Besides, I **do** have a ship. Have you never heard of Captain Jack Sparrow?"

"No," lied the boy.

"Well, I am the captain of _The Black Pearl_!" exclaimed the captain.

"Is this," he started, as he pointed the raft they were sitting in, "what you call _The Black Pearl_?" he asked.

"Of course not! My ship -" but Samuel rolled his eyes.

The Pirate Prince did know what the _Black Pearl_ was and how she looked like. His mother had given him so much details about it, and also about how Captain Barbossa had stolen Jack's ship and thrown him on a deserted island of the Caribbean. He suddenly wondered whether he should follow the example, but Jack **was** Elizabeth's friend... or at least, she considered him as so...

Anyways, the reason why Uncle Jack didn't have his boat right now was probably because Barbossa had taken his ship... again! And left him alone to rot and die... again... probably!

Just as he was about to say something, Jack's expression changed. He took the oars and started rowing backwards. "I've changed me mind, crew! Let's go north!"

Had Jack seen right through his young crew mate's plan? Samuel turned around and saw a ship coming their way, and from the flag, that it wasn't going to be a very peaceful meeting.

"Who can I see from there?" bellowed a grey-going-silver bearded chap from the deck. "Isn't this Jack Sparrow?" he added, chuckling loudly, and the crew laughed along with him.

Jack grumbled something, but Samuel didn't hear him.

He was absorbed by the engraved letters on the hull of the ship. _The Black Pearl_. The bottom of the black sails had been ripped apart by the many storms she had faced. _The Black Pearl_ seemed to halt in order to receive the two sailors. A Lilitupian-like shipmate - probably Marty (the Pirate King had told her son about him) - threw a rope down to the raft, inviting them to climb up.

Before forcing Samuel to ascend, Jack whispered: "Mind your tongue, mate. Who knows what he could do to you..." and then, when they were face to face with the captain, he said aloud: "You wish to give me back me boat now, Barbossa?" suggested Jack to the grey bearded captain, whose monkey, ironically named Jack as well, was chewing what resembled a peanut, comfortably installed on its master's shoulder.

"No, I came to find ya!" answered the ship's captain. "The song has been sung, Jack! It is your duty to -"

"Won't ye all stop that talk?" cut Jack as he glared at Samuel. "Is that really what you want, Barbossa? Another Brethren Court meeting? What is't for this time eh?"

"You know why I called the Pirate Lords this time, Jack!"

Samuel looked around and was quite disappointed; Elizabeth Swann was no where to be seen on the boat... and Mr. Gibbs either, which was on the other hand quite a relief.

"Lord Beckett, ey?"

"Aye."

"That don't bother me."

"Not only is Beckett back, Jack, but Davy Jones also is. You do know what plans he has for you, don't you?"

Jack made a face as he traced the outline of his beard with his fingers but gave no answer.

"Wait, what do you mean, Davy Jones is back? Wasn't he dead? Hasn't Fathe- Will Turner replaced him?" exclaimed the young man, too curious.

What had happened to his father if Davy Jones was back on _The Flying Dutchman_? With his mother and father gone missing, what was he to do? His only hope was to follow Barbossa to Shipwreck Island and optimistically find the Pirate King and help her look for her husband.

All the glares were before him now. Barbossa's gaze was more like the other crewmates, asking who he was. Jack looked more like he was about to slap his forehead, desperate.

"What's a youngin' like 'im do to know all that?" asked Pintel, eyeing him menacingly. Apparently, the pirates considered this matter only regarding older pirates. He was like an outsider to them... except that they didn't know _who_ he really was...

Barbossa did not answer. He was busy staring at the young Turner, whom he did not yet know the identity. He bluntly turned towards _The Black Pearl_'s rightful captain, pronouncing his name with hatred, and asked: "Who's this, Jack?"

"He's no one! A-"

"Samuel Turner! I'm related to the Pirate King, please take me to her!" he heard himself saying, interrupting whatever Jack was about to lie about.

"Related to Captain Swann herself, ey? How related?" inquired the captain, massaging his grey beard as if thinking.

"It's her cousin's niece's aunt's brother's mother's uncle's nephew's son, thrice removed, Barbossa. I took 'im in me crew, he stayin' with me," answered Jack quickly, stepping protectively in-between the two.

Samuel stared blankly at his (adoptive) uncle. What was he trying to do?

"But if you wish to trade the Black Pearl to me in exchange of him..." he added, and stepped out when receiving Barbossa's death glare.

"You wish to sail with me to Shipwreck Island, ey?" repeated the Captain, as if to make sure of what he had heard, and totally ignoring what Jack had said.

"Yes, captain Barbossa."

"Tell me, kid. Have you ever slit a throat before? Have you ever killed a man?" the captain asked, bending forward to take a better look at the future sailor.

"No," admitted the lad, still defying him as he kept glare proudly into the seaman's bloodthirsty and merciless eyes.

Barbossa grinned as he straightened himself up. Samuel couldn't decide whether it was to scare him, or because he was truly pleased by what he just heard.

"Alright. You're in, Turner, but my word: you better not -"

"EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY'S _ENDEAVOR_ COMING RIGHT TOWARDS US!" warned Cotton's parrot as it flew by.

Barbossa regained his features as he walked slowly towards the helm. "EVERYONE TO THEIR POSTS! PREPARE YERSELVES TO FIGHT!"

Everyone ran this and there on the deck. Samuel had no idea of where to go. He proceeded into helping Pintel and Ragetti into arming the numerous cannons that were found on the upper deck on the lower gun deck. From the little opening, the Pirate Prince saw it. The _Endeavor_ in its beauty was chasing after them. It didn't seem to have changed, although it had been entirely destroyed by _The Flying Dutchman_ (who had been led by William Turner, his father and the new captain of the ship) at their last encounter.

"How can this be...?" he thought out loud, not remembering that his shipmates were listening.

Pintel looked over at Ragetti and nodded. "Have you ever heard of Melusine, lad?" he asked, almost muttering the name, as if he was scared that someone - maybe Melusine herself - could hear him out loud.

"No," replied the chap as he shook his head slowly. "What does she have to do with Beckett's sudden return to life?"

Ragetti bent over. "I-it's because she's Calypso's rival. It's quite unknown of, but this Naiad has been the Sea Goddess before Calypso and when she got more powerful than her, she was banished from the seas. Some pirates say that she was preparing her spells so as to dethrone the Sea Goddess and gain power over the sea," he explained.

Samuel urged him on with a shake of his head. What did this Naiad have to do with Beckett?

Seeing as the young sailor did still not understand, Pintel added: "This Sea Nymph made Beckett and Davy Jones return to life in order to bound Calypso once again in her Bones and make her his. Don't you know the song?"

The song, yes. Samuel knew it by heart. His mother used to sing it to him every day... How could he forget?

"Unknown of most pirates, the song has another verse," started Ragetti.

A seaquake shook the vessel as the _Endeavor_ shot its cannons at them.

"THE SEA WITCH'S BOAT IS COMING!" croaked the parrot as it flew by.

"Reinforcement is coming!" cried Pintel.

"Cotton!" called out the captain.

"Yes?" responded the parrot.

"Get us out o' here NOW!" commanded Barbossa as he handed him the helm. He then proceeded into taking out his telescope and looking at _The Black Pearl_'s twin coming towards them.

Samuel came up to take a closer look as well. After all, he didn't have the chance to see anything of the boat but its silhouette and the ship's golden name. Its black sails, matching hulls, and everything else were identical to _The Black Pearl_'s. That one pirate back on Tortuga had been right. The _Insert Name Here_ **was** un-doubtfully _The Black Pearl_'s twin! He leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of who might be the ones on the deck.

"Do you wish to die, lad?" asked the captain as he pulled the Pirate Prince by the collar back. "No one is allowed overboard unless I command him to, understood?" he asked.

"What about Jack? You just let him go," commented the young man, pointing overboard.

Barbossa let him fall heavily on the deck and hurried towards the aft and looked. There Jack Sparrow was, on a canoe, rowing towards the _Insert Name Here_, who was blocking the way between the _Endeavor_ and the _Pearl_. The Sea Witch was creating a diversion for them to leave.

"Are you going to fetch him, Capt'n?" asked Ragetti.

"No. Gents, let us leave. Besides, we have Young Turner here with us. That's enough for now. Jack can't run away from the call."

Before Samuel could have a chance to look back and see what Jack was going to do, Pintel and Ragetti brought him back to the gun deck and they proceeded into making him prepare all the cannons, just in case the Sea Witch hadn't succeeded in their diversion.

"Won't we help them?"

"Have you ever heard of the Sea Witch's specialty?"

"No," replied the young man to Ragetti.

"They 'poof!' disappear from our sight. Some call it the Power of Invisibility. Others call it Teleportation, but one thing is sure… the Sea Witch is quite powerful in that way."

"Jack's going to flee with them. Hopefully, they won't let him get caught by Beckett."

"Full speed! Gents! Let us use the sweeps!" Barbossa yelled, referring to the oars that the Pearl had in case of emergency.

The wind was blowing on the good side, the sails were taking full advantage of it, but the captain must've chosen it wise to row and increase the speed. That would reduce Beckett's chances of catching up with them for some time... The crew all took places to row at Barbossa's command.

--

"Well, whelp, it seems that you've proven yourself not quite worthy of navigating with us," remarked one of Samuel's shipmates as he pointed out the bad knot the Pirate Prince had just made. "Lads, bring this eunuch to the brig!"

"B-b-but!"

"You'll learn, boy, that if you want to stay on me ship, ye gotta be useful, or else... I'll maroon you on that Caribbean island, just like Jack...!"

As he was thrown in the cell, the young man had time to think. Everything went as planned. Barbossa was going to Shipwreck Cove, Jack would be coming along... somehow, and he would see his mother again. He had chosen to be thrown in there for a purpose.

The thought of being marooned didn't scare Samuel. He had been on a deserted island for four years now. Another one wouldn't do much of a difference... The only problem with staying on that infamous island of the Caribbeans was that Samuel didn't want to become like Jack.  
Becoming an unbalanced pirate on land wasn't something he had wished for. So the Pirate Prince decided to remain useful to Barbossa and the rest of the crew.

"Land, ho!" he soon heard Marty, the shortest of them all, yell from his lookout post out there.

Ragetti and Pintel came down to fetch the Pirate Prince. The vessel had bordered to Shipwreck Cove. He was so excited to see his mother, at last!

**But little did he know that destiny had chosen another special path for him and his companions… **

* * *

**Well, I hope this one was good enough... What's going to happen next?  
****Find out in the next chapter! Eh eh eh... FINALLY! I get to put a Cliffhanger! Mighty cliffhangers... gotta respect them...  
Hm... well... I hope you enjoyed and I also hope to see you guys soon! -  
Please review if you liked or didn't like it... **


	5. Chapter 4: The Pirate Lords

**In this part, well, you'll find other surprisingly coughs familiar coughs characters! And I hope you're going to enjoy this part... because I had to make awfully big researches so that I don't make any mistakes... but I'm sure there will be some... so please feel free to review or to Private Message (PM) me if you need to tell me something... either about my crappy writing style, or about something that I might've mis-written, or something that I wrote, and that was bad... (just like the thing of Marty being a Midget, I'm, again, sorry to have wirtten that... and rectified it, oki?) BUT please don't be too harsh, I'm a beginner? looks at you guys with puppy eyes **

* * *

**The Purple Moon **

**Part 4: The Pirate Lords **

By CrystallicPrincess

On Shipwreck Island stood an undefeated fortress. As much the most famous lair of the pirates as the Isla de la Tortuga was a pirate's favorite place to hang-out. It was so indescribable that you just had to be there and see it to believe it is real.

"I wonder how the other Pirate Lords are," thought Samuel out loud.

He'd always dreamed of meeting them. His mother had taught him so much about them that he felt like he already knew them. And this feeling, the feeling that he'd meet her finally, after four long years, overwhelmed him much more than he had expected before.

"Prob'bly dead," replied Pintel bluntly, and, when his young mate's death glare met his, he just looked down and did his job. "Just bein' realistic, kid."

"Aye," intervened Barbossa. "Since Beckett's return, lots of pirates have been hung to death. I'd not be surprised to see some'ne else 'nstead o' 'em."

"T'is true…" croaked Cotton's blue, yellow and green parrot.

Samuel made a face, and looked overboard. Four ships were there already. He had even seen the _Insert Name Here_ boat! How exciting. All the bloodiest, the bravest, and the strongest (also weirdest, considering that the Sea Witch's boat's captain didn't even know how to name his boat...) pirates that Mother Sea had ever held on her surface were having a meeting here, and he'd have the chance to assist it!

"The Sea Witch, ey?" identified the captain, pointing at the _Insert Name Here_ ship with his bony finger. "This meeting **is** going to be interesting," he commented.

What could Samuel do other than nod in agreement? He had the chance to meet THE Sea Witch in person (and maybe she'll be kind enough to make **his wishes **come true... IF she was kind enough, because the Sea Witch was a pirate also... and that Tia Dalma, _the Sea Witch at his mother's time, and that was actually the Goddess Calypso, which was Bound in her Bones long time ago by the first Brethren Court_, demanded a price (according to his mother, that is). What would the Sea Witch's price?), to find his mother, and to meet with the most famous pirates in a lifetime! How better could this get?

--

In the room where Samuel and Barbossa entered, four blades had already been sunk on the world globe. The room was filled with more wonders than his mother had told him about (probably because there had been more than 10 years since she last set a foot in this area). It quite lived up to its reputation. The other members of the crew had been ordered to stay on the Pearl to guard it, so Barbossa and Samuel were left out to negotiate with the other Pirate Lords. The Pirate Prince thought that Barbossa had an idea in mind about selling (Barbossa had quite the evil mind to think that way) him to a slave market or something, or to persuade another Pirate Lord to take Samuel in his crew, seeing as the lad had behaved quite... badly on the ship and had proven The Black Pearl's captain that he was not worthy to travel with him. To his disappointment, his mother was nowhere in sight. On the other hand, to the young lad's bewilderment, he saw Karen sitting there, chitchatting with her shipmates and with three other captains they obviously already knew. And also to his relief, Mr. Gibbs wasn't there, which meant that he could assist to the reunion without anyone knowing his real identity.

"Hey, Samuel! Good to see you here!" greeted Lucy when she saw him, beaming brightly at him, as usual.

"Uh… hi! Where's Sera?" asked the young crewman.

Lucy glanced at the others as if she was looking for their approbation, and that's when the Pirate Prince noticed a change of clothing coming from Karen. She didn't have her cloak on anymore (her shipmates did though... and it covered all of their clothing, so he didn't know from whom they succeeded, but now that Karen showed them her clothing, he knew). She was dressed in African ceremonial-style: brown, green and yellow embroided robes with the garment that seemed to be an extension of her collar appeared to be made of python skins. She also wore a tall, colourful (mostly of green, so it must've been her favourite color) African headdress that made her appear just like a queen, though the big smile that she used to have before, at Helga's tavern, didn't give her the 'queen' aptitude. She also had two large gold earrings pending from her ears and a large necklace with a pendant that resembled a horn. Adorning her fingers were three large gold rings that had emerald stones on them. With all the attire, Samuel guessed that she was the successor of Gentleman Jocard, but he couldn't resist taking a look at her weapons, that he could see from her back. They appeared all to be made of dirty ivory bone. From where he was, he could not see any form, but he could hardly imagine Karen using any weapon at all.

When she looked back at him, Lucy smiled again. "Ah! I'm not sure that Makoto will be pleased that you've paid so much attention at our last… encounter," she started, making a reference to her very strict looking friend, who was glaring at him. "Sera's on our ship with Zarya. They're keeping it safe," answered the Short shipmate, probably speaking of Zarya as their new crew member, the one they had been looking for at Helga's tavern.

Barbossa rolled his eyes, probably as discouraged as Samuel was when he discovered the real nature of the present Pirate Lords. Where were those fearless, deeply scarred and frightening looking pirates? Why had they chosen one of these Asian-looking girls to replace them?

'_Perhaps there is more in this that meets the eye_,' _The_ _Black Pearl_'s captain thought, shrugging off his worries about this matter.

"Where are the other Pirate Lords?" asked a young man about Samuel's age – as a matter of fact, they all seemed to be seventeen years old – with short brown hair.

He wore a suit that reminded the Pirate Prince of Capitaine Chevalle, or at least, what his imagination (dictated by his mother's stories) had an image of. That young man seemed to be an aristocrat, but his tunic was way too ruined (by fights, sea water and probably sweat) to be an aristocrat's. He held an emerald-topped walking stick, which he didn't really seem to need it much, since he appeared too young to need one. He wore on top of his head a dark tricorn hat and a light purple coat and a matching color waistcoat. He didn't wear the frilled cravat, but still, he looked like the French Pirate Lord more than any of the pirate here... Obviously, he was one of the Pirate Lords and also Capitaine Chevalle's successor. Samuel later learned that this one's name was Simon. His greenish-blue eyes seemed far too innocent to be a pirate's though. On the other hand, this young man had this Aura around him – the same as Lucy's – that made you trust him, fear him, and respect him.

A true Pirate Lord.

"Not here, obviously," grumbled a very killer-looking captain, sitting next to him. Samuel later acknowledged this Lord's name as Pan.

Pan had this very elegant looking tunic that made Samuel think of him as Sri Sumbhajee's successor. He wore long green, crimson golden robes and the same matching colored turban, held together on his head by a very special looking brooch. The jewel looked like it was very ancient, and yet, it was shaped as a frying pan. One that his mother would use to cook and this was what was so weird about this lad. He looked as tall as any young boy he's age would be, and had this piercing look in his eyes. Samuel was taught that people with this kind of look were often good firemen. He wouldn't want to be Pan's target if the young man was holding a gun. The Pirate Prince also could see the Pirate Lord's weapons: a pistol and a sword. Pan also didn't look like a Pirate coming from the Indian Ocean, as Sri Sumbhajee himself, but since he did wear clothes that were somewhat identical – or almost as identical – Samuel had to trust him as the Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean.

An Asian-looking guy was leaning his back against the wall. He wore clothes that made the young lad look like Sao Feng, except that he had hair on his skull, and no tattoo, nor any scars anywhere (at least, none that the young Pirate Prince could see). A robe layered with a shoulder guard, and an armor-plated belt inset with jewels that the Pirate Prince didn't have the ability to recognize yet. On one of his fingers, he wore one large golden circled jade stone ring. He also wore an interesting set of trinkets around his neck. One of those necklaces reminded Samuel of the one the Chinese Pirate Lord himself gave to his mother, as one of the legendary Pieces of Eight, used to bind the great Calypso herself in her Bones. Just like most of the girls present, he wore glasses, which made him appear smarter. He remained silent at all this, which made Samuel think of him as very mysterious. This silence made him look even smarter. Just like Pan, he also had an Aura that made one fear him easily.

"Welcome to the fifth Brethren Court. As one who has summoned the meeting, I'd like -"

"Wait! We are missing four Pirate Lords. Where are they?" demanded the one named Makoto in Karen's crew.  
Apparently, she didn't like to idea of trusting Barbossa.

**And she was right to do such a thing...**


	6. Chapter 5:The worst Pirate ever seen

**The Purple Moon **

**Part 5: The worst Pirate ever seen  
**

By CrystallicPrincess

"Why are we going at sea again?" asked Karen as she exited her cabin, yawning pretty loudly.

"Because the four missing captains are to be found," snapped Makoto as she steadied the wheel of the ship.

"Where's that new crewmember you girls hired?" asked Samuel, sitting next to Lucy.

She was one that he could trust more easily than the others. He could say that it was because of her Aura, but it was most likely because she seemed more _opened_, something that he wasn't used to in all those years in which he had lived only with pirates. She liked to talk and somehow, seemed to understand him more than any of the others. She was just like Simon, the Pirate Lord – though they hadn't been in contact much – because she didn't appear to be fierce at all, but something instinctively told the Pirate Prince that he wouldn't like to mess with her in a fight. And then, somehow, there was something more... Something that curiously reminded him of someone. Constantly. And he couldn't figure out whom.

"Oh. She's on duty. She'll be staying with –"started to answer the rig master, but Arashi, the Unemotional Girl, from the main mast, coughed loudly, and she stopped.

"How can we find the other Pirate Lords if the Nine Pieces of Eight were burned last time?" inquired the chap. "I mean, almost none of the Pirate Lords I've heard of from the last Brethren Court must be alive, they must've passed the title on to someone else, before getting hung by the East India Trading Company, so…"

Lucy smiled at this. Her smile made him painfully think of Elizabeth Swan's smile.  
She knew something he did not. As a matter of fact, everyone in this ship seemed to know more about everything than him. Yes! That was what Lucy made him think of. A mother or a friend. Her crew mates didn't nickname her "_Angel-Girl_" for nothing...

"We have our ways, Samuel. This will sound stupid, but '_Trust the sea, and the sea will lead you where you want_'," she added, as if to reassure him, and it sounded like she was quoting someone.

Makoto snorted as she turned the helm, as if Lucy had made a joke that they only could hear. Leanne, the navigator, came up from the bottom of the boat to breathe a bit of fresh air. She slapped Karen, the captain, for doing nothing as a captain and said that the lass should be ashamed of it. The young woman then proceeded into beckoning Lucy to follow her, and the rig master, escorted by her assistant, obliged. Leanne deployed a rather disappointingly normal looking map on a table.

"Find them, Lucy," she started by saying, then, turning to the others, she said: "Girls, let's speed up our pace a little. We can't dishonor our ship's reputation and coming over to Shipwreck Cove without anyone."

The rig master nodded as she took out from her pouch little seashells, rocks, and tiny other stuff. Samuel was astonished! This was the Sea Witch! He had finally found her! She held them in her palms and slowly tossed them… one by one back in the little bag, until there was one thing left: a compass. Desperate by this (Lucy could most likely NOT be a Sea Witch), Samuel went back up on the big mast, on one of its cross bars, where Lucy and he had been sitting before the navigator called them down. He saw them all take out of nowhere shiny instruments. Leanne, Makoto, Lucy and Arashi had a flute, while Karen and Sera (who had come out of her "kitchen" especially for this) had some instrument that resembled clarinets. Lucy simply touched the map and nine different color glowing dots appeared on it.

"Samuel," sharply commanded Makoto, "you come down in Karen's cabin. It'll be safer there for you than out here," she added.

He obeyed. Makoto wasn't one to be disobeyed easily. Curious, he let the door creak open and watched this weird ritual.

Outside, the girls had started to play their instruments, as if they were summoning a force that was beyond his understanding. Weirdly, the melody they played reminded him of the song his mom used to hum to him. It was similar to the Pirate Song, the one that his mother had last sung to him before leaving, but it had a certain dramatic edge to it. Everything around them seemed to slowly fade away as the melody urged on. When the music gradually dissipated, the colors and landscape returned. A green eye would've thought nothing happened, but Samuel noticed they were already in approach of an island. There were seagulls roaming the sky, thus, he could guess so.

"They always do that," said a voice, making the shipmate jump of surprise and shut the door closed. "The girls, I mean," she added when Samuel sent her a quizzical look. " 'travels faster than the _Black Pearl_ herself."

"Do you know how they do it?" managed to ask the lad as she sat down on Karen's desk. "This truly is the Sea Witch's ship," he thought out loud as the lass answered negatively to his question. "Were they summoning Calypso's Powers to travel faster? Who are you?" he added, though he guessed this was probably the new crewmember Lucy had told him about.

She chuckled. "Of course, how do you think they actually do it? As if one of them really had an ounce of the Sea Witch's Powers. I was a new crewmember here, before you came," she answered. "I'm Aequora," she introduced herself, shaking hands with him. "Samuel, right?"

"Yeah... right... Yeah... so what's your purpose in the crew?"

"I was under the rig master's commands, but now that you're here, they told me that I could keep Karen's cabin safe. There's a closet full of treasures in it," she answered, as she led him towards the closet in question, and opened it. "Karen's the greediest pirate I've ever seen. She doesn't want anyone to touch them, and loves to spend it on rum."

In the room, there were multiple chests full of golden treasures in them. They were so filled that some of them were wide-opened. Some of them were very weird though. One of those was pink. The outside was pink. What kind of a treasure chest was that? It was huge though, and filled with what the boy believed as Amethyst, the Stone of the Angels. Another one, was very treasure chest-like, but filled with skulls. Karen sure had weird taste for finding such riches. Samuel even saw some rubies and sapphires rolling back and forth on the floor. There was this black treasure chest that seemed a bit familiar. It was one of those who were closed shut.

"Won't she bury the treasures, like all the normal pirates?" asked the lad as he stared at them.

Aequora shrugged. "No. She loves to keep them near her, and to count them whenever she's not drunk. Safer, she says."

"They're the worst pirates I've ever seen," commented Samuel, shaking his head.

"But you haven't seen them fight," argued the lass. "It's the most unfamiliar fighting style I've ever seen, but they always win," she added. "I've participated in some myself, and I must say that I'm proud of being part of this team," she admitted, nodding briefly. "Even though they don't trust me enough to tell me who of them is the Sea Witch, bugger," she added, as if reading his thoughts. "We even won a battle against the _Endeavor_, Beckett's newly returned ship!"

"How do you reckon Beckett returned to life? I mean, he was presumed dead, wasn't he?" Samuel asked as Aequora closed the door of the closet.

The young woman remained silent. "What do you know of Melusina?"

Not this name again! "She was once the Sea Goddess, but Calypso out powered her and became Sea Goddess, banishing the ex-Goddess away from the sea. Rumors say that she's returned to bind the Queen in her Bones. She resurrected Davy Jones, erased his memories and Lord Cutler Beckett, who practically owns the East Indian Trading Company, in order to achieve her goal. She will be the 'King' and they will be his men. He'll attract Calypso here, by using Davy Jones as bait."

"Exactly, you know that much, why must you ask?"

There was a knock on the door before he could answer her. "Guys? Is it okay for you to come out? I need help with the rig," asked Lucy's voice from outside.

"Calypso was once a Sea Witch. If she could call Barbossa into living again, the Sea Witch of this boat can surely do that as well," thought Aequora aloud before they left Karen's cabin and helped Lucy out.

"Captain Sparrow and Captain Villanueva's successor are here," said Karen as she lowered the telescope and looked at him. "Do you know who that is, Lucy?"

"No, but I'll recognize him once I see him," the Short Girl promised.

Once they docked, the crew divided into two groups. Sera, Aequora, Arashi and Karen stayed on _The Black Pearl_'s twin as Makoto, Lucy, Samuel and Leanne explored to isle. The jungle was so dense that they had to use of their weapons to slash their way in and through it. Due to her exaggeratingly short height, Lucy had lots of problems just to unsheathe her blade, so she stuck behind either Makoto or Leanne.

"I don't think Jack has the choice. As Barbossa said, Jack can't run and hide forever. One day, he'll get caught. Either it'll be death, which he fears the most, Beckett, Jones, or us. And it better me us."

"I hope we don't get caught by the Pelegostos this time," said the rig master.

"You've been here before?" asked the new crew man.

Leanne nodded. "It's a quite... special place here... we even learned their language!"

"Karen knows enough to insult them," added Makoto. "Then, they caught us. If it wasn't of -" and then, she realized she was going to say something that he wasn't supposed to hear, "Lucy's plan, we'd be finished."

The Short mate proudly hastened her pace. "But Jack got caught there and we couldn't save him on time, which is –"

"You know Jack?" asked a very surprised Pirate Prince. So he hadn't gone on their ship for nothing that dreadful day where they both got caught by Barbossa.

"T'is been a long time. He still doesn't age much," answered Makoto.

"Not that we don't age much either..." noticed Leanne, nodding.

He got confused.

"The village is up ahead. The Pelegostos still think of Jack as their god, they'll try to roast him and eat him again," resumed Lucy. "Anyone's got a plan?"

Silence.

"The Pelegostos can be quite dangerous when they protect their god," said Makoto. "Let's just avoid being hasty. Look! Jack's on his throne!"

Yes, sitting there was the Mighty _Captain _Jack Sparrow. He wore his usual clothes, plus even more garments than before. He seemed to be chewing something while playing with a feathered fan-like scepter. A necklace made of forks, knives and spoons could be seen decorating his outfit. His face was painted with rather flashing colors. On his head rested his usual tricorn hat, which was arranged with feathers and other ribbons.

"Let's let ourselves get caught!" proposed Leanne, overexcited by the idea. "So that we can escape, and then, rescue Jack," she added, pointing at the fake Pelegosto god.

Next to the Pirate Prince, Lucy didn't seem sure at all, but nodded. Makoto shook her head negatively.

"Last time we did that, something went wrong. Do you want to lose another shipmate?" asked the Strict Mate.

"If we don't have other ideas, let's just do that," suggested Samuel as they waited for his answer. "What can be so dangerous? I mean, Karen and the others are there to rescue us if we get in trouble, right?"

The rig master hesitatingly nodded as Leanne nodded vigorously. Makoto sighed, but agreed. "If something goes wrong, you're the one I'm leaving behind, mate," she warned him. "How do we get caught? We try to save Jack and let them catch us?" she asked as she looked over to the village.

"That seems to be a good enough plan," commented Leanne, as she raised her machete. "Let's to it, friends," she suggested as she led the way through the village.

Suddenly, Samuel stepped on a trap, and fell in a very deep hole on the ground. He heard Lucy gasp loudly and Makoto curse heavily as she called Leanne back. The navigator must've eventually come back as Lucy threw him a rope-like vine that she had found.

"Are you alright, Samuel?"

Somehow, hearing her saying his name was reassuring. Especially coming from Lucy's voice.

"Yes! I'll come up now!"

No response.  
He made haste as he climbed up the slippery vine. When he arrived up, he came face to face with...  
a blade! He then saw Leanne, and Makoto fighting back to back through the army of Pelegostos that had gathered around them. Lucy was nowhere to be seen, which worried him a lot. He didn't have the time to unsheathe his own weapon, so he quickly surrendered, according to the plan. A very feathered man threw him something that made him sleep...

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER!! OH YEAH!! Okay guys, hoped you enjoyed this, especially a certain someone glares  
I'm sorry it took a bit long for an update... I'll work harder and faster next time... I hope...  
**

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	7. Chapter 6:The Pelegosto Gods

**The Purple Moon **

**Part 6: The Pelegosto Gods **

By CrystallicPrincess

"STUPID UN–WITTED RAT, GET UP ALREADY!" bellowed Makoto's voice in his ear, waking him up instantly.

Samuel blinked once, then twice. He looked around, to notice that he was kept with Makoto (why with Makoto? Of all his crew mates, why Makoto?!) in a cage made of what looked like human bones. Next to their cage was another one, with a single man in it. They were too far for the young Pirate Prince to see who it really was, but Samuel saw enough to know that it wasn't either Lucy, or Leanne (to his surprise. Where were they?!), or Mr. Gibbs (to his relief, Mr. Gibbs wouldn't go this far to look for Samuel, especially since the last time he got here (according to his mother's tales, that is...)), or his mother (to his relief as well. His mother was the Pirate King, she wouldn't have let herself been caught like this... she had a reputation to keep!). The cages were held in the air right above and under the Pelegostos' famous narrow bridges, by solid–looking ropes.

"You didn't need to scream like that," he muttered as he shook his head. "Bugger! Where are Lucy and Leanne?"

"You wouldn't wake up the first times," answered his shipmate, but it had seemed to him that he hadn't felt anything trying to wake him up before her scream. Maybe it was because he was sound asleep, or maybe it was just another lie... He felt like she just enjoyed messing him up mentally, just like Karen and the others. "The Pelegostos remembered us from last time. Since they weren't sure whether it was Lucy or Leanne that – "started Makoto, before she realized she was about to say something bad or something. What was so important that they even needed to keep it secret to their shipmates? "Both of them are believed to be Goddesses in Human form. They're going to be roasted along with Jack, and then, eaten."

"We can't let that happen!" exclaimed Samuel as he looked up and down for an escape plan. "We have to save them," he repeated as he shook the cage.

There was nothing that could be done. The bones were too... solid and the Pelegostos had done their job well, building the cage. His efforts only made the cage unstable, annoying his companion.

"Stop that," snapped Makoto, as strictly as ever. "Close your eyes. I can free us in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, the Pelegostos don't remember me," she added the last sentence, muttering to herself, thinking that he wouldn't be able to hear anything of it.

"Okay, but why should I close my eyes?" demanded the Pirate Prince, as he still obeyed. "What exactly are you going to do?" he added, in the direction in which he felt like his shipmate was.

"Because this is not meant for your eyes to see," simply responded his shipmate as he smelled smoke coming out of nowhere. How had she found matches (or anything that could light up a fire) when the Pelegostos took everything from them? And then, he remembered Lucy's words to describe Makoto: pyromaniac, and stopped asking questions that would make his head go dizzy.

Maybe the feast had already started. Maybe they were late!

"WATCH OUT BELOW!" and he felt like the boned cage was falling...

... Falling... and then, landed.

"Open your eyes, Stupid!"

As he obeyed, he saw the cage was ripped open, that they had landed on the bridge that was right beneath them before.

"Hurry out before the guard shows up!"

Somehow, the bridge was able to support their weight and the impact of the fall!

"How did you manage to cut those vines?! They rid us of our weapons!" pointed out the chap as he followed her towards the village.

**_He did most likely not notice how burnt the vines he was talking about were._**

The first houses they visited were empty, except for some knick–knacks of all sorts. They were like storage houses. They even found their machetes and weapons, along with the carrying bag that Samuel always preciously carried with him – which, thank God! – hadn't been emptied out yet. He tried looking around for Leanne, Jack and Lucy's weapons, as he had already found his, but they were nowhere to be found, for some unknown reasons... Makoto found hers, and, apparently, not caring about her friends' followed the path towards the center of the village.

"Come on, mate! This way," she led him, more than annoyed about his slow pace, apparently.

"What's your plan? Barge in and put fire on their houses and food?" he asked, a bit irked by her mood.

Makoto said nothing; maybe she didn't have any plan? And she didn't tell him what she'd planned either. Though he had been used to silence all these years, Samuel found this irksome. How could he be of any use when Makoto didn't explain to him the plan she had in mind? As they waded through the dense forest, they got closer and closer to the village. The lad knew so because he could smell fire and the noise – drums and songs sung by the Pelegostos, no doubt – got clearer.

"See them sitting on those weird chairs over there?" pointed the Strict Mate when they arrived. "You go behind those thrones and rescue them. I'll make a diversion, but don't you turn back to see what's happening, savvy? Or else..."

Really, she didn't need to finish her threat, Samuel nodded. The fire at the center of the village was getting bigger and bigger – to Jack's request, apparently, because one of the Pelegostos came to him, designated the flames, and Jack smiled, nodding as he would say "MORE FIRE! BIGGER FIRE!" (Samuel read on his lips, the noise was a bit too loud). And the Pirate Prince decided of the next step of his plan and left Makoto to make a detour around the place without being seen, if everything went well. He had his weapon ready in hand this time, just in case any of the Pelegostos wandered off and found him, and also just in case Makoto's distraction did not work on some of them and that they found him trying to save their Gods from being eaten. However, the villagers weren't in his way this time, and he could still hear them chant.

"Hello Samuel!" greeted Lucy when he arrived in silence, without even turning around.

Maybe he hadn't been as noiseless as he thought...

They weren't attached to the 'weird' chairs, as Makoto called them (the Pelegostos didn't want to hurt their Gods, after all), so they stood up and followed him back towards the jungle, incognito. No one even seemed to notice the Gods' disappearance. There were no Pelegostos keeping an eye on them, probably thanks to Makoto's diversion. Surprisingly, no Pelegostos ran after the Gods, but Samuel didn't dare look back as they ran back to where Makoto and he had been standing.

Lucy smiled as if she had read his mind. "The whole village is burning. They went to save their houses and forgot to tell someone to take a look at us."

"But we couldn't leave, because we didn't know where you guys were going to meet so we decided to stay here," continued the Navigator, not looking back either, "until you guys came to fetch us." and with that, she sent Lucy a wink, which was returned to her by a smile. "If we had left, you guys would've been captured by the Pelegostos... Karen would hate it if we made a fuss and lose our time. Barbossa will be even more angered than he had been when we left."

The two girls considered themselves as twins (mostly annoying to the rest of the crew), not because they physically resembled each other (because they really didn't have anything in common except the Asian traits they shared with the other members of the crew), but Samuel guessed it was more because they were always on the same 'wavelength' and always seemed to understand each other really well.  
Makoto came to join them and screamed to run towards the white sandy beach. It was after that they realized she was followed by the Blue Coats, the East India Trading Company's soldiers. Some were threatening their prey – them – with their muskets, others with their swords, and the last ones with their cutlasses. Karen's crew ran together in a random direction, not knowing for sure where to go, but then, the road divided in two. The first one led towards a cliff, they could easily see that, while the second one led to the beach. There was no time to hesitate.

"Go that way guys! I'm going to lure them this way," decided Lucy. "Leave without me. I still have to find the second Pirate Lord," she said quickly, pointing them to go the second way. "I can find a way back to Shipwreck Cove after. Go! Go! Go!" she continued pushing Jack to run, which he gladly did.

"Wait, Lucy," Makoto suddenly said, stopping Samuel at the same time. She took away his sword and threw it in her hands. "Will that shut you up?" she directed to the Pirate Prince as she started dragging him down the hill with her. "Let's go!"

Before Samuel obeyed, he saw, far away over Lucy's shoulder, a chap that wasn't wearing a Blue Coat, but that was leading them, scream, with a little accent, an order to his followers. The Pirate Prince could see clearly that the man face that looked like it was wrinkled. His hat covered most of his hair, though it was tied in a bow on the back of his head. He wore a buttoned black coat with black gloves that covered his hands. He carried a sword and was brandishing it before him as he ran towards them, a very sinister smile on his face, as if he didn't believe that these pirates couldn't escape him. It was Mercer! His mother's description of him was most correct. He had not changed since the last time Elizabeth Turner had seen him. But before Samuel could do anything, however, Lucy pushed him to follow the others, and then, it seemed like she had disappeared.

"What about Lucy? She doesn't have her sword anymore!"

"No time to take care of that! She has yours, she'll manage," exclaimed Leanne. "Trust me; she can take care of herself! And if you don't trust me, at least give the girl some credit and have faith in her and do as she says. That's all you can do."

With one final look over his shoulder, the young boy reluctantly left. He saw that vines had grown where Lucy had stood. The path to where they had been was covered with plants! Another summoning of Calypso's help, no doubt. Now, the hill looked like part of the mountain that was already covered with the jungle vegetation.

Mercer and his Blue Coats could not follow them anymore. They were forced to follow their only lead now; Lucy, who was leading them towards a dead end. But how would she get out of there herself? That was something he ought to ask her when she would return. When they got on the boat, and had finished re-capping their recent misadventure to Karen, however, they took one last look at the island. They were too far away to get caught by the swarm of Pelegostos gathered on shore. The cannibals could feel something was wrong about the boat (probably because of the Sea Witch's Aura around it or something) so they didn't come after them. They chased after the remaining Blue Coat that had gotten lost on shore instead, because they were still hungry (even though that man was definitely not a god).

After a while, Karen decided their time here was over, that they'd come after the successor of the Pirate Lord after. When Samuel replied they'd be short on a rig–master, that it was their responsibility to wait for Lucy to return, according to the Code, to everyone's surprise – to his only actually, and perhaps Jack's – Karen told them to suspend the Code (knowing what punishment she would deserve if she had said 'hang to Code', especially if Captain Teague was there, Samuel wasn't surprised with that) and to leave Lucy behind, that if she was worthy of being a pirate, a pirate on the _Insert Name here _ship, she must've been able to return on that very ship alive.

"Don't you think you're going too far? Lucy, against a village of Pelegostos, against the Blue Coats! How can she manage all by herself?" he asked, making sure they'd understood what Lucy was really up against. "You want her to return to the ship, but you're making the ship leave!" he added.

It didn't make sense.

And he wondered if Lucy would be able to reach the other side of the mountain. If she was able to get there before Mercer's men got to her, perhaps she could find the villagers (non-cannibal, those) who lived there and get help from them. Elizabeth had told the Pirate Prince a bit about this place, where people lived in houses built along the river. The cannibals seemed to dislike going there, probably because of Tia Dalma, also known as the Goddess, Calypso, used to live there, and that they were terrified of her, just as Jack and so many others were.

"She's a pirate," nodded Karen. "Jack, you be... Jack," she decided. "I'm not going to make you work on stuff like this," she mumbled. "Samuel, you be Lucy's substitute," she designated. "Everyone, let's go then," she decided, and, since she was the captain of the boat, her decision was indisputable, except when it was Makoto (for some reason), of course, but even Makoto seemed to agree on what their captain had just said and took her place behind the helm.

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**This is a part I'm posting to apologize for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed, and that you've recognized Mercer by the description! haha  
Please make my day and review? **


	8. Chapter 7:Villanueva's successor

**The Purple Moon  
Part 7: Villanueva's successor  
****By CrystallicPrincess**

**Updated: I changed Zayra's name to Aequora, it's much more... watery... Please forgive me! haha... Well, enjoy! **

"Hey, don't you think this is a bit weird?"

"What do you find weird, Aequora?" asked Samuel and Karen.

"The fact that the East India Trading Company knew that we'd come to the Pelegosto island."

"Did they even know?" asked Makoto.

"Or were they there for another reason?" asked Leanne.

Samuel didn't know what to think, but Aequora had a good point. How did the Company know about their whereabouts indeed? Was there a spy in the Brethren?

"Someone that had been in the Court the other day that knew of the _Insert Name here_'s mission and told Beckett?" assumed Makoto. And it was clear that she had a certain pirate she didn't trust in her mind when she said this.

"Or maybe is it that the Company somehow knew that Jack and the successor of Villanueva were on the island?" Leanne asked.

This led to other questions.

"So... is it that one of the two Pirate Lords had a deal with Beckett, to luring the other Pirate Lords on this island so that Beckett could capture us?" asked Arashi.

"Oh, mate! Do you think so lowly of me, Arashi?" asked Jack, as he looked at her, looking a bit disappointed.

"You're a pirate, Jack," she answered, as if it were simple.

"Besides, in times like this, just as Barbossa said, the only way to survive nowadays is to betray the other pirates, mate," started Sera, "and you would totally be able to betray us for this kind of thing, Jack," she added.

"And you're right," added the Pirate Lord, going back to stand besides Karen.

"The only way to know about the ambush is to ask Beckett, I guess?" tried to answer the Samuel, trying to avoid the subject of Jack being a traitor.

He didn't want to think that his Uncle could betray his mother's side to his own good (though Elizabeth had told him all of what Jack was capable of, and it didn't reassure him more...).

"Are you crazy?" asked Makoto. "I'm not going anywhere near that wretched fool!" she added."Let's decide of this when Lucy gets back," suggested Leanne.

And they all agreed on this. Somehow, they thought and decided better when the crew was whole again. And there was an awkward silence.

"By the way, Jack, any news of Will?" asked Leanne, when the Captain of the Black Pearl eyed her, she shrugged. "It's something Lucy wanted to ask you," she added.

Jack Sparrow shrugged as well, turning his glance towards the sea and drinking more of his rum. "No. Turner's supposed to return to land in three years. Will you girls be there then? Poor William surely misses you... though you haven't aged much since then, unlike Lizzie..."Samuel raised an eyebrow. "You girls know my my moth... the Pirate King?"

"Long story, lad," Sera said, shaking her head as she mixed some ingredients together in a bowl, sitting on the deck.

"Say... Is it the **_Elixir of Immortality_**?" asked the Black Pearl's captain, suddenly interested. "Your... 'country' – or wherever you come from – must hold the Fountain of Youth, eh?" he asked again, as all of them shook their heads.

Jack was obsessed.

"No, Jack. We're not helping you," sighed Karen, after a humongous effort. She would've given Jack anything he wanted. He was like her idol. "We're here on another mission. A quest way better than immortality itself," she hinted. "And if you help, maybe you'll get what you want," she added, snickering as the other members of the crew shot her a death glare. She left it in his hands and went to Makoto.

His job done, Samuel took a look at the map that still glowed with Lucy's... Powers, if he could call them so. He wondered whether she was okay or not, as Jack stood up to ask more about how was it that since the last time Karen and the other girls had seen him, the girls haven't aged much. A conversation Samuel found very interesting to follow. The girls seemed to know Jack, Elizabeth and Will since a long time ago. They seemed to know them from a time before Samuel's birth... but that was technically impossible... since Lucy had claimed that the rest of the crew had the same age as him! And all this talk about the **Fountain of Youth**...! Had the girls really found it? Or was it just the Sea Witch's Powers? Lost in his thoughts, Samuel didn't notice the _Dauntless_ approach their ship at an inhuman speed, on the map. Arashi, from her spot, noticed automatically.

She yelled something incomprehensible that caught his attention.

"The _Dauntless_! Mercer and Beckett are back!" Karen's eyed hardened as she said this. "Lucy didn't do her job well," was all she mentioned of the _Insert Name Here_'s rig–master.

"Did they catch her?" Samuel asked eager to learn of Lucy's news.

Leanne took a look at the map and suddenly, the Pirate Prince noticed the glowing dots were less light than it had been when Lucy had been there, on the ship. The ship that moved towards them was accompanied by the glowing light that had been positioned on the Pelegostos' island not so long ago. Leanne made the comment and Makoto laughed.

"Let's send someone on the ship to see what's up with Lucy, to capture the Pirate Lord and hopefully, kill Cutler Beckett once and for all," proposed Karen.

"That's a bit too much to demand for one person only, isn't it?" asked Jack. "Wait for the –"

"–the opportune moment, Jack?" started Leanne, as the night settled in. "I want some action, at last!" she added, putting her maps away for the moment and looked up in the sky. "It's going to rain soon," she added, as if she hadn't seen that coming, but wasn't surprised much.

As soon as she'd said it, as if she had ordered it, the clouds blackened and drops of water started .Makoto didn't look quite happy at all with the arrival of the drops of rain that wet her. Sera, on the deck, hurried down to protect their supper. Samuel suddenly thought about the subject they had been talking about before... and apparently, he wasn't the only one...

"What if the Pirate Lord that was supposedly in league with Beckett in the ship right now? In these times, the safest thing a Pirate can do is to betray other Pirates, so if he is, then it would explain why the dot of Villanueva's heir shows that he's on the ship," she repeated. "If the Pirate Lord was on the Pelegostos' island only to lure us there, knowing that we would come to fetch him, so Beckett could catch us all, then Beckett must've fetched him?"

"Good point, Arashi, as thoughtful as always," agreed Karen, and the Unemotional Mate had been right about the map (Villanueva's dot was definitely on the _Dauntless_ all right), "but we still need the other Pirate Lord if we want Barbossa's meeting to go to our advantage," she went on, but not enough for Samuel to understand clearly the meaning of her words. "We need someone to go check, and report back, before we plan anything further."

Samuel looked at Leanne, who was eager to do the job. Leanne looked back at him. Jack looked at him. It took the Pirate Prince some time to realize that everyone's eyes were on him. He shook his head.

"Why me?" he asked, rather not reassured by this.

Karen shrugged. "Because yer worthless. I'm the captain. Ye can't afford to lose a captain."

"I'm wet," complained Makoto, as if that was a reason to why she chose him to go instead of her.

"I'm the Navigator. Those girls have no sense of orientation. Without me, they'd be lost. You just can't afford to lose a Navigator either, especially on this ship."

"I don't want to go," was Arashi's reason.

"If I go, who's going to cook your dinner?" came Sera's voice from somewhere underneath their feet, in the 'kitchen' as they called it. "So not me, you go, Samuel!" she added, with logic.

Samuel glared at Jack.

"Don't look at me, lad. It's not me ship. I have no law here... though..."he was about to add something, but met Karen's glare, and stopped.

And with that note, Samuel prepared himself to get on the ship of the enemy. All he had to do was to take a raft and row towards the _Dauntless_ that had stopped, looking for the Black Pearl's twin as it remained invisible in the dark...

"Thank goodness for that, at least, no one could see us coming towards the _Dauntless_," he whispered to himself, as he climbed up the chain that linked the anchor to the ship.

Samuel wasn't sure if he'd be able to find the ship again (since it was invisible in the dark and all), but something told him it'd be okay.

"Ugh, Lucy's optimism must've rubbed off on me," he muttered, disgusted.

He heaved himself on the main deck of the _Dauntless_ and snuck out from the guard's sight, sneaking into the captain's cabin through the door someone had carelessly let open.

Lord Beckett was just like Elizabeth Swan had described him to her son; He seemed annoyingly over–confident. He wore a very elegant but dark coloured outfit. As he was pacing around the room very calmly, his tall black boots were the only ones that made the only sound that penetrated the silence of the room. His bicorn hat rested above his perfectly white wig as he walked around the room. The Pirate Prince could see that Mercer, the man that had hunted Lucy down on the Pelegostos' island, was with him. Another man that Samuel couldn't identify was with him yet, because he wasn't facing him. He thought maybe it was the Pirate Lord that had been trapped with them on the island (probably the man in the boned cage next to theirs, it was the only 'civilized' man they had seen on the land mass).

"I could not catch Sparrow, neither the girl that seems to be Melusina's enemy, but I found another traitor that's still worth catching," introduced Mercer, pointing at the man disdainfully.

"Sparrow?" Beckett asked, eyeing the chap as if he meant nothing to him.

"Fled with the girl's accomplices," answered Mercer, with as much emotion in his voice as a rock would've had if it had a voice and something to say.

"The girl?" Beckett was obviously referring to Lucy.

Samuel listened, eager to learn of her news.

"Quite a runner, that one. We trapped her, but she chose to jump off the cliff rather than getting caught," explained the hutch man, to Samuel's horror. "The sea claimed her body."

"Norrington, what is it? Are you regretting your past mistake?" asked Beckett, talking to the man for the first time, as the other subjects were case closed... for now.

Samuel took a closer look at the man that was now facing him. He wore a black hat with a very bright white feather that was impossible to miss. He also wore a brown leather–ish coat with golden embroidery over his white shirt. The Pirate Prince could also see a large leather–ish again strap across his chest and another belt over his dark brown pants that had held the man's pistol, cutlass, and sword. These clothes did not fit the description the Pirate King had given him years ago, but the man's face did. He wore a stoic and a somewhat snobbish expression on his face. Yes, James Norrington was the man attached on the was probably referring to the last time Norrington had lived, his mistake being to have helped Elizabeth flee with her shipmates. Samuel thought this was bad. How could Beckett be alive first of all, and how did Norrington manage to come back to life as well?! They were supposed to be dead!

Norrington grimaced as they turned their attention to him. "I never regret something I do with conviction," he spit out, and Samuel knew what he was talking about; he had saved Elizabeth and given her the chance to escape the _Flying Dutchman_ by providing a distraction that had cost him his life. "What do you want anyways, Beckett?" he snapped his interlocutor's name.

"I don't think you can do something for me, personally," calmly replied Lord Beckett as he just as calmly moved towards his desk. "But I think you could be useful to us."

"What do I get out of this?" disdainfully asked the ex–Commodore. Clearly, he didn't want to betray the Pirate King again.

"Freedom," snorted Mercer, "and perhaps more," he added, eyeing Beckett.

Suddenly, starting towards the window, towards Beckett was a dark snake. It entered the room and crawled, almost glided towards the man. The reptile set itself on the lord's shoulders as it slithered something to his ears. Something Beckett must've understood, because he smiled mockingly and nodded once, and the snake dissipated into thin air, as if it had been made of smoke, under Norrington's – and Samuel's – astonished eyes.

"Oh. Yes. Going through hell – if you'll excuse the pun – has taught me a great deal of... tricks," Lord Beckett smiled coldly. "Of course if you're worried about Miss Swan, you should be reassured. If you work for me, I won't let anything happen to her... or to you, once I capture all the pirates," he added.

Samuel shivered. He wouldn't fall for this kind of illusion (for if Beckett had been resurrected by Melusina, no doubt she would have given him some powers... or illusions, at least)... and he hoped, intently, that Norrington wouldn't fall for it either. Answering in an unusual way (Elizabeth never told Samuel the man had such a 'piraty' behaviour), Norrington spat on the ground.

"Ah. I hoped we wouldn't get to this... but you should know that such a thing shouldn't be done in front of our guest of honor. He's just a child after all," Beckett sneered as he lightly shook his head. "Mercer, we have company. If you would please bring them here at this moment..."

Them? It couldn't be him then, could it?

Mercer nodded once and at once, their eyes met. His cold stare and his. Samuel stood up as soon as possible and tried to make a run for it. Of course, he was caught almost at the same moment and joined 'Uncle' Norrington on another chair. A moment later, Karen and Jack sat next to them. The ex–Commodore gasped when he recognized the captains.

Was Samuel really the only one that didn't know of the captain and her shipmates? Even Uncle Norrington seemed to know!

"Yo, Norrington," grinned Karen, between two grunts of effort, as she tried to wiggle free, "long time no see. Of course, I'd have preferred it to be in other circumstances, but hey..."

"What do we have here?" snickered Beckett once again, pacing slowly back and forth. "Captain Karen, so nice of you to show up. I assume your... ship is somewhere in sight as well."

Karen sniggered back. "Good luck if you find it."

"Oh, I'm sure such a task wouldn't be difficult for Davy Jones." Karen and Jack's face froze. "Ah. You are lucky. He has a harder task to proceed to. I guess I'll just ask someone else... if you'll excuse me..."

Mercer kept an eye on them. Norrington eyed Karen and Jack, and Samuel, as Samuel contented himself on staring at the captain. Jack was eyeing the table on which Beckett had purposely or not laid nine old black coins on a map. Karen, in the meantime, just looked around for any treasures to steal.

"Why are you here?" hissed the two guys as the _Insert Name Here_'s captain finally looked back at them with a sense of awareness of their presence.

"Oh. The others thought my argument was useless and that I ought to keep an eye on you. I could've escaped, but Lucy would've killed me... I mean, IF she knew what I'd done, of course. Not that she could've, since she's probably still rotting somewhere on the Pelegostos' island."

Mercer snickered. "Lucy? Is that the silly girl that jumped off the cliff? That's her name?" he asked, making Samuel feel like Karen shouldn't have given him such important information.

He couldn't believe still, that Lucy had... he gulped. He didn't want to think of the word. Karen, in the meantime, just smiled, as if the provocation didn't affect her at all, and nodded twice.

"Such a waste," he shook his head."Isn't there a possibility that she's still... alive?" asked Samuel, and Norrington snorted, probably not as all uncertain of the answer, but the Pirate Prince just ignored him.

"No chances at all, lad. There were rocks everywhere, impossible for her to escape," answered Mercer.

"He's right. I've seen the cliff and the rocks. The sea claimed her; there nothing a normal mortal could do about it," added Karen, still grinning, "if Lucy was a normal person."

Mercer grinned as well. "The Sea Witch is still no match for our Goddess."

So Lucy was the Sea Witch?!

Jack interrupted. "Technically, Melusina is in the form of a Sea Witch, and secondly, Lucy is NOT a Sea Witch, mate," he said, and Mercer glared at him scornfully.

"How can you smile when your rig master's dead?" incredulously asked the young Turner. "She's your friend too!" he added. Later, he couldn't believe what he'd been saying. How could he have sunken so deep as to worry for someone like that? Someone he had barely met!

"Don't worry. You're the rig master now," answered the captain, still smirking.

Jack sniffed the air. "Something's burning on your ship, mate," he said, after sniffing two more times in different directions. "I think you ought to... tend to Beckett's help."

Samuel sniffed the air as well. It was true; from the cabin's windows, he could see and smell smoke. Karen remained unmoved, as if listening to a conversation that was impossible to hear with their ears, smiling. She looked like she was away. Then, it came.

The sailors started to yell: "FIRE!" as the windows suddenly scattered into many tiny pieces of glass.

"Guys, just hurry up!" said Leanne as she dusted the glass off her dark cloak. She faced Mercer without hesitation as Karen stood up as if she hadn't been attached at all. "Help the others, I'll take care of this... freak," she ordered as she stared at the scarred man, her weapon up.

When Samuel's ropes were loosened, he proceeded into delivering Norrington from his. "Thanks er..." started to say Norrington when he realized he didn't know the lad's name.

"Samuel Turner," the young man completed, nodding and then, following Karen out. "Leanne?"

"I'll be alright, Samuel, just go." and it reminded the boy of Lucy's last words. "Just go!" it was more of an order than anything, so he went, pushing Norrington out.

When they got back on the boat, they saw what was happening to the Endeavor. The deck was on fire. There was a bit of a thick fog in the night, but no rain at all. The first thing Samuel saw was that Makoto looked very pleased with herself. Karen nodded, patting her friend's head.

_"Makoto's a... pyromaniac, in a certain way. She would take advantage of any opportunity to burn things up," had said Lucy when she tried to explain what the difference between their team mates._

Norrington didn't look pleased at all. Either it was because he was on a Pirate Ship, either it was because Jack waved and smiled at him, or it was because he had unfinished business with Beckett and Mercer that he would've wished finished earlier. Maybe he was tempted to accept Beckett's proposition!

Samuel shook his head in disapproval. No, now that Norrington knew about Beckett's treacherous behavior before, he wouldn't dare go against Elizabeth Swan... would he?

Instead of paying attention to Karen, or Jack, Elizabeth Swan's friend eyed the young Pirate Prince. "Samuel Turner. Have I seen you somewhere before? You seem a bit familiar," he asked. Samuel wasn't sure what to say. Was it because he looked like Elizabeth, Norrington's ex–fiancé? Or because he resembled Will, Elizabeth's husband, his dad? Both?

"It's because he's related to our Pirate King, mate," answered Jack. "A Cousin's niece's aunt's brother's mother's uncle's nephew's son, thrice removed," he added.

Samuel just nodded, still clueless of what to say. Instead, he preferred not to let James Norrington stare at him any longer. He might guess his veritable identity. The Pirate Prince turned around and took a look at the Endeavor, to see Leanne jump dramatically in the sea before everything exploded.

"Leanne!"

They were now too far away for her to hear them, and for the _Insert Name Here_ to be affected by the explosion. He rushed and tried to find Leanne's silhouette in the water, but in vain. It was way too dark for him to see.

"She'll come back to us when time comes," Karen said, to reassure him. "She swims faster than anyone," she said, laughing as if she had said a joke that only she could understand. "Ah. We've found the other Pirate Lord," she snickered, as she pointed Norrington.

"W–what?!" staggered Samuel, staring at Norrington. "YOU became a Pirate Lord?" he repeated, more surprised than anyone else, it seemed. The thought hadn't sank in before. "How can it be?"

"Well, how can it NOT be, Turner?" asked Arashi, coolly, as she descended from her post.

"Anything's possible with us, hasn't the Rig Master taught you that, lad?" asked Makoto, smirking. She was still looking at the big fire that was far away already.

Norrington chuckled. "Well, as surprising as this can sound, yes, I am the new Pirate Lord, successor of Captain Villanueva," he introduced himself with a short map contested it; it was true. There were three Pirate Lords on this ship, and it was illustrated by the Magical Map. Lucy's absence hadn't done it any good. The glowing stopped almost instantly, to Karen's displeasure. Leanne hopped on the deck, all soaked, but with a kvelling grin on her face.

"Mercer gave a good fight," she explained as she headed towards the helm, "but the ship was in too bad condition. Let's just move to another location, so that Beckett doesn't come after us," suggested Makoto, at the helm.

"Just my thought," commented Jack, as he headed for the helm. "Have you found all the missing Pirate Lords yet?" he asked, suddenly and suspiciously in a hurry to go back to Shipwreck Cove.

"Elizabeth?" asked Norrington, very eager to hear of her news, apparently. "Is she still there?"

"We... haven't found mothe... her yet," Samuel answered, uneasy with this. When would he finally find his mother and father? He couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed too. Wasn't the guy over the fact that his mother had chosen William Turner instead of him already? Sure, he had died to save her. Sure, she was more than grateful of this, but that didn't necessarily mean – "How come are you alive?" he asked abruptly, stopping his flow of thoughts as he felt surprised he hadn't thought of this before.

"The same way Beckett came back to life, I guess," answered Jack.

"So you DO have a deal with Beckett, Norrington! He's the enemy!" exclaimed Sera, coming out of the kitchen.

"Woah! No, he's not an enemy, Sera," said Karen. "He refused to help Beckett... Our mate still lurves –" she started, but Norrington coughed loudly, and no one knew what she truly said.

"So how did Beckett know how to find us on the Pelegostos' island?"

"Let's just say that he can perform the same kind of thing Lucy was able to do when she found Jack, Makoto," answered their captain with a dark tone in her voice.

**And he knew that her dark tone was because Karen had never considered someone else in this sea with the same power as Lucy and that the captain had thought of them as invincible with that power. **


	9. Chapter 8: The Voodoo Priestess

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 8: The Voodoo Priestess**

By CrystallicPrincess

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been a long time since I posted here... For the wait, I've prolonged the part, I really hope it's worth it and that you'll enjoy it. **

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"Where is this place exactly?" the captain asked, turning towards the crew.

"This is Isla Cruces, situated in the middle of nowhere of the Caribbean seas, the island where Davy Jones originally buried what we call the Dead Man's Chest, which contained his heart," informed Leanne as she cut the vines in her way. "This almost-deserted island is also called Crosses Island," she added, looking around for a place to rest.

"But why are we here? This place gives me the creeps," Sera shuddered.

Samuel had to agree to this. Somehow, this island and its name were familiar to him. It wasn't just because his mother had told him the story of how she herself found the Dead Man's Chest with Jack Sparrow and James Norrington. Something else made him uneasy...

"Perhaps this is caused by the fact that lots of people died here," answered Aequora, as she slashed some more vines around them.

"You know this place?" the Pirate Prince, Arashi and the cook asked, surprised.

The girl shrugged. "Only through stories. At Tortuga, they used to say that the Church came here to bring salvation, but they also brought disease and death. The priest that was here -- we saw his church not so long ago, over there -- had to bury everyone, one after another. They say that it drove him mad, and he hung himself," his shipmate answered.

The young man shrugged the idea of dead bodies right underneath his boots away and concentrated on their main goal; that hut they could barely see in the middle of the swamp.

"...as for why we're here, it's because we need to find the Sea Witch that lives in this mire, remember, mate?" resumed Karen.

And this was why Leanne had called this island 'almost-deserted'. They were looking for a Sea Witch, but the reason why they were looking for another Sea Witch was unknown to him just as it was unknown to Aequora.

"Do all Sea Witches like to live in this kind of place?" the cook complained, sniffing as she said this. "I should be making a nice soup right now," she added.

The idea of a nice meal waiting for him on the _Insert Name Here_ instead of facing whatever the Sea Witch had arranged for them that lay ahead (surely, the Sea Witch must have put some trap for people not to have come) made Samuel's willpower flinch a bit, but he decided it was best not to say anything.

"Hm... I heard of this story once from Norrington, I think," pointed out the Navigator. "It was a plague, wasn't it?"

"A plague that destroyed the whole island," mumbled Karen. "Only a Sea Witch could possibly have survived this kind of thing, right?" she asked.

If a Sea Witch was capable of wiping out the whole population on this island with a plague, what could she do to them if they angered her by coming on her territory? Could she do something to her fellow Sea Witch colleague (assuming that Karen, Leanne, Arashi or Sera was the Sea Witch)?

It was all silent from there on. Everyone was as lost in their thoughts as he was. Feeling too awkward about this, he needed to find another subject of conversation. Years living in calm and peace had not done any good to the young lad.

"Arashi should be back anytime soon," remarked Samuel, looking around as he tried not to think about anything (either the Sea Witches' Powers, or the seven years of solitude) too much.

Arashi, the Lookout, had been sent to scout the area. She was the only one, somehow, who felt good about this place, and she even had no problem with wading through the marsh.

Samuel later learned that Isla Cruces was an island that separated itself into four main parts; the beach, where Davy Jones had concealed the chest that contained his beating heart, the island, where the people had been living with the priest (before this one turned mad and hung himself, of course), the dense jungles where Elizabeth had once fought seamen, and the place where the people had been buried, the graveyard, which became, later on, the swamp.

"This swamp was created by the Sea Witch, right?" he asked. "It wasn't there before, when Jack, Norrington and Elizabeth Swan first came here," Samuel added, though he didn't specify how he knew of this.

If there had been a swamp there, his mother would have told him... although she had been in the middle of a fight with seamen when she last came, so perhaps she hadn't noticed this part of the island...

"I think it was there before, that Jack just didn't mention it because he was busy 'taking his leave' from Norrington and Will," commented Sera, laughing as she was the only one who could understand the joke.

The _Insert Name Here_'s captain stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him, pointing him. "Something we could ask that old hag," she stated, and turned around to where they could see the hut once again. "Ah. Arashi's here, lads," the captain added.

Surely enough, as soon as she pointed this out, their Watchman appeared among the tree branches. "There are no one else than us in the area and there's no safer route than this one, but the Sea Witch is indeed here. We're not that far away, so hurry up, guys," she reported. "This way, come on."

The Lookout seemed even more alive at this point than at any moment Samuel had been with her. It seemed like wading through the mud did not bother her at all (though Lucy had specifically told him to clean the deck as meticulously as possible because Arashi had problem with hygiene). What pirate had problem with hygiene, he had wondered when his friend the Rig Master had said this?

Something about being on a desert island, or being on the same island as a Sea Witch seemed to revive her. Was she like this because the Sea Witch was her friend? Was this because Arashi was the Sea Witch of the _Insert Name here_? Once again, he was facing a wall in front of the mystery that surrounded the girls' true identities. How could he investigate on something like this, when he had absolutely no information whatsoever on their pasts?

From afar, he could hear cannonballs being launched and destroying everything in their way. What was happening out there? Did he hear correctly? He sent one last look towards the beach where they had left their raft, wondering how Makoto, Norrington and Jack were doing on the _Insert Name Here_. The young man had a feeling that the Helmsmate had known about the swamp all along and that was why she had chosen to stay and keep an eye on the two Pirate Lords...

"We're finally here... Don't forget Makoto's restriction, girls," remembered Arashi.

Now that they were in front of the hut, they could finally rest a bit. The girls, except Aequora, hood themselves in their usual black capes, and let him the job of knocking.

"I have not received visit in a long time, welcome, young adventurers," said a voice from inside. It belonged to a rather old woman from the sound of it.

"Open the door, stupid," ordered Karen, slapping his back so hard that he was almost slammed the door.

He obeyed, not without writing a mental note to get her for that later on when he would get his chance... The girls entered the shack first. Samuel used this moment to examine the voodoo dolls that adorned the ceiling of the single-roomed house when the Sea Witch answered the door.

"Hello? Anybody home?" called out their captain, looking around.

The dirty house was had only one window, but the view it gave out on the valley of mud was exquisite. No wonder the Sea Witch had seen them coming.

On the dusty shelves that had been pushed to the walls (where there was not window, or bed, that was) were bottles and beakers of asymmetrical objects, liquids of all colors, organs and insects the Pirate Prince dared not to identify.

There was a chimney also, with a cauldron resting in the fire. What kind of food had the Sea Witch prepared?

On the table in the middle of the room, in front of the bed (which was right in front of the wall which had no window at all), was a voodoo doll wearing dark rags in human size.

It blinked. And its eyes closed again (though how he was able to decipher the eyes from the wrinkles was a mystery for him).

Samuel jumped back, clinging on to his bag. "It blinked!" he warned, pointing it with the sword he had drawn out from its sheath as quickly as possible.

Following this, everything happened very quickly.

"HOLY CRAP!" screamed their captain. Karen burst out of the house and ran away, slamming the door behind her.

What kind of Pirate Lord was this, especially a Pirate Lord from the Sea Witch's ship? Was she also going to abandon her crew to this monster whose identity was unknown?! What kind of captain was this?

'_A Pirate Lord,_' he remembered as his face darkened when he remembered his mother's exact words on the subject.

"Are you sure?" asked Aequora, but she was right behind him when she said this, burying herself in his back. Was she scared?

"What?" Arashi leaped back, staring at it as if she was examining it.

Leanne unsheathed her sword, jumping back as well. "So I wasn't the only one who saw it move!" she agreed.

"Maybe it's just the wind. Puppets move like that," the cook said, shrugging as if she were used to this. "Karen...? You can come out now..." called out Sera from where she stood.

Aequora opened the door and brought their Captain back. There was no trace of fear in her face when she came back. Had he imagined it all? But Leanne had seen the marionette blinking as well!

"I knew that, that's why I ran out, to see if there was any wind," said Karen, closing the door behind her as she came back.

"Right, Karen," said everyone at the same time, staring at her in disbelief.

"All right, Acerbotis, where are you?" the captain quickly added, proceeding into peering out of the window, to see if the Sea Witch was outside or not.

From the information Karen had collected before coming here, her name was Acerbotis, a Voodoo Priestess, or Sea Witch.

There was a soft chuckle. "I'm here, Successor of Gentleman Jocard," answered a voice in the middle of the room, in perfect English.

The puppet started to move and stood up. If this were Acerbotis, she had Lucy's height, because her back was bent. Her wrinkles made her dark gleeful eyes almost indecipherable if she didn't blink (or if her eyes were closed). She wore her long cloudy hair half loose, half in a bun and millions of necklaces of all size and sort on her neck.

The Pirate Prince stared at it, suddenly lowering his sword. If this was the Sea Witch he had been dreading to meet, best was to sheathe his sword and to hide... and so, he backed away until his back met the wooden door.

And suddenly, he could hear noise outside. It was something between slashing vines (the same noise they had made upon coming here) and barking. Was this island not deserted?

But his thoughts were immediately re-directed to the room, when Aequora suddenly grabbed his arm, tightening her grip on it as if she were frightened.

"Eeck!" Karen apparently had the same idea, for she chose to hide behind Sera, who was the only one who seemed to see this as normal.

The cook had chosen to remain still, still hiding her captain as much as possible, greeting it as a normal person. "Hello there!"

Leanne wasn't in the same state of mind as them, or at least, she wasn't thinking the same thing, because she bounced back, pointing her blade at it from afar in an attempt of self-defence.

Arashi got slightly closer. "Acerbotis, the Voodoo Priestess?" the Watchman asked.

"I am what's left of the Voodoo Priestess. But it's been quite some time since I've been called a Voodoo Priestess," the Sea Witch remarked, almost more for herself than for her visitors.

In motion, she looked slightly more human. Samuel, Aequora and Leanne relaxed a bit, the first one getting slightly closer, the second one letting go of him and the latter, sheathing her weapon. The Sea Priestess, totally ignoring them (perhaps because she could not see as well as she used to anymore), decided to give them the content of a bottle that was on her left, and poured the green liquid in the glasses of pottery that she had just put on the table.

"Have a seat."

"That's because no one ever came back here after the plague," mumbled Karen, as she took the seat in front of the Sea Witch, as their spokesperson.

"What does the Sea Witch's ship need from an old hag like me?" she asked, after Leanne and Sera had distributed all the cups to the visitors (the Navigator had omitted to give one for herself on purpose), as she took a sip of the weird substance herself.

The Pirate Prince paid close attention to what was happening outside as well, wondering what was living in the swamp that could cause the vines and the noise of walking in the mud that he could hear from gluing himself to the door.

"Clairvoyant, as ever, Acerbotis," started the captain. "Listen, we know you are old, and that your life is probably going to... you know? End...? But..."

Samuel had never thought that something like this would ever happen! Karen seemed to feel guilty about calling the old woman an old hag, or seemed uneasy in front of someone! This was a first; he had always thought that Karen's best Pirate quality was that she wasn't afraid of saying what she thought and of assuming what she had affirmed.

"We need you to give us information on Davy Jones' whereabouts. You are the oldest Priestess still alive today," completed Sera, talking to it as if the old lady was just as normal. "You have to give me the recipe of this delicious drink by the way, Acerbotis!" she exclaimed, after a tasting it.

Intrigued, the young man took a mouthful of the gooey substance. He had been thirstier than he had thought. Surprisingly, it was better than he had given it credit for. "How old is she, again?" asked the young mate to Leanne, who was still keeping away from the old woman.

"She's about as old as Davy Jones, some even say she's older than that," answered the Lookout back in the same tone as he had used. Arashi was eyeing the drink in her wooden goblet suspiciously.

"What drink is this, grandma?" the Navigator asked, loudly from where she was (she still dared not get any closer).

"Why did Leanne call the Witch grandma?" asked the young man, whispering. Was this because this woman was really Leanne's grandmother and this proved that Leanne was the Sea Witch?

"Because where we come from, we call old geezers like her grandmother, or grandfather, depending on their gender," answered Aequora.

"It is an old recipe of mine, I will give it to you as a departing gift," chuckled the old woman, as if she had heard his shipmate's answer.

"Departing gift, what are you talking about?"

"Young Pirate Lord, there are things that only one from this world can still feel," muttered the Priestess, standing up. "I've already prepared the list for you," she added, handing the piece of cloth to Sera. "You were followed," she explained, to Karen's puzzled face.

The Voodoo woman stood up once again.

"Open the door, Witch, we know you are hiding pirates in your shack! Open up, you are surrounded, you won't escape this time!" called out a voice, knocking to the door.

So it was them Samuel had heard from outside, and not a random animal! The Prince cursed himself interiorly for not alerting his crew about this, but decided to act like he hadn't known.

"Drat! They found us!" muttered the Lookout.

"If you don't open after three seconds, we will fire!" warned another voice from the marshland.

"Didn't you say there was no one else on the island, Arashi?" asked Karen, putting on a very serious face. Her shipmate not responding, she unsheathed her sword and took out her pistol. "Very well, we'll discuss this a bit later, Acerbotis, we have some unfinished business to attend to first."

They all drew their weapons, ready to fight. Next to him, he could see the excited Leanne grinning as she prepared to open the door.

"There are about only ten of them on the area. No more, not much to be afraid of," she told them. "So we can take at least two out for ourselves," she added. "No cheating this time, Arashi!"

"Three," the Blue Coat had started the countdown.

From the windows, they could see that the spokesperson had not lied. They were indeed surrounded. Their enemies were blue coats, the East India Trading Company's soldiers. They were easily recognizable by the maroon red tunics adorned with gold and their dark blue jackets that were covered in mud from their struggles to chase after the pirates. They were aiming their guns at them from far away. Were they scared of Acerbotis' Powers?

Sera turned to the lady, who was carefully choosing the bottles of liquids and organs that she needed. "Acerbotis, could you...?"

"Two."

"Of course," the Voodoo Priestess cut her in the middle of her sentence. "I will help neutralizing their pistols. You take care of the hand to hand combat," she added, rather thrilled as well. "It's been so long since I've participated into a tussle!" she mashed the ingredients into her cauldron, and, started mixing them together.

"One."

The water had been boiled in advance. Was she expecting this? Did she know that something like this was coming up already? Samuel had no answer for this, and tried to concentrate into surviving this fight. Could Acerbotis really neutralize the pistols? What if she were shot? Then, she would not have told them what Karen needed so bad to know.

"Mercer is with them," smiled the Navigator. "I haven't finished what I started with 'im," she explained, grinning even more. "When you're ready, grandma!" she said.

"Open fire!" commanded Mercer, from the outside.

"Duck," warned Sera, dragging the old woman, who had started a chant in a different language, down with her as she did.

Karen swore when the first wave of bullets reached the house, dropping to the floor as she prepared her own pistol, and fired back, aided by Samuel and Aequora. Arashi had disappeared. Where had she gone to? Inside, some bottles shattered into pieces, releasing their contents on the floor.

"Gross!" observed Leanne, looking away, her hand still on the handle of the front door. "When you're ready, Acerbotis!" she called out.

Suddenly, there was a glow coming out of the cauldron, and it expanded from the cauldron, to the room. From outside, the pistols stopped firing bullets at them.

"Bloody hell! My musket won't work!" started to say a voice from the swamp.

"Then fight with your swords!" ordered Mercer. "To the front line!"

"That's all I'm asking for!" replied Leanne, as she swung the door open, blocking Mercer's sword. "Hello there, miss me much?" she asked, pushing him outside.

"Arashi, Sera, you know what to do. Acerbotis, stay here and stay alive, until we come back," commanded the captain. "I will pay for the damages I cause to your window," she added as well. "Samuel, Aequora, follow me!" Karen ordered, unsheathing her sword and jumping out of the window.

The two of them obeyed, and immediately landed next to each other, face to face with Blue Coats. Aequora stroke first, her blade piercing the man's body as quickly as she pulled it off and evaded his comrade's attack. Samuel's sword also clashed with the East India Company's soldier that was right in front of him. He dodged the second blow and pushed the man into his partner's blade.

"Sorry, mate! I gotta run!" he concluded. "That's one down. Now, for the other," he said, almost for himself, as he attacked the Blue Coat that had killed his first opponent.

"I won't let you run away this easily," grunted the opponent.

It was a boy about his age, wearing a ridiculous white wig. This surprised the Pirate Prince. Did the East India Company recruit young lads this young? It was still an enemy, and Karen would kill him if he didn't eliminate this person...

"I'd like to see you try," he replied, blocking the young man's attack, and kicking his legs.

"Cheater!" the young man pointed out, as he fell on the mud.

"Pirate!" corrected Samuel, as he took the opportunity to strike.

The young Blue Coat got up quickly, evading his attack by rolling on the side first. "Huh? What's this?!" started the young man, suddenly throwing away his sword and trying to get out of the swamp, where he had already gotten himself to mid-waist already.

Something Samuel would not have imagined happened. Unfortunately, before he was able to do anything, he was sinking in the bottomless swamp at a rate that surprised the young Prince. He looked in the house, and saw Acerbotis, still mixing up ingredients in the cauldron. Was this her doings? She had transformed the swamp into quicksand or something!

"Demented!" he commented, looking around as he stepped on the wooden floor of that surrounded the Voodoo Priestess' house.

He could not see Leanne, but he knew that she was fighting Mercer at the moment. Arashi and Sera were nowhere to be seen either. Were they okay? Their captain was further away, mud to her waist, fighting two soldiers at once. So Karen had not been named captain for nothing.

"Samuel! A little help wouldn't hurt," grunted Aequora, few steps away from him, on the wooden ground.

Her opponent had teamed up with the Blue Coat that Leanne had probably left alive because she was too busy duelling against Mercer against his friend, who had a hard time parading both of their attacks.

"Ah, of course!" the young man replied, coming to her aid at once. "Hey, why don't you take on someone your size?" he asked, striking first the one that the Navigator had forgotten.

Because the Blue Coat rolled on the mud to avoid his attack, Samuel's blade ended up slashing only the air, but he didn't care. What happened to the young Blue Coat he had fought before happened to the Blue Coat that had evaded his blow. He screamed before his head dived in the mud. Aequora finished the other man, who, by staring in disbelief to what had occurred in front of him, had given her the opening she needed to stab him.

They both turned themselves to Karen, whose opponents had slipped in the mud and their death was the same as their colleagues.

"How did that happen?" Aequora and Karen asked him, motioning the location where the men had been.

"Do you expect me to know?" he retorted, but there was suddenly a gunshot coming from their left. "Hurry! What's happening over there?" he asked, rushing inside the house, from where he had just heard a gasp.

In front of the house, fighting on rocks that had emerged from the mud of the swamp were Leanne and Mercer. He could still see the smoking gun he had dropped to the ground. Whom had he shot exactly? The young man hurried inside the shack, and found the old woman they had mistaken for a puppet on the ground.

"Acerbotis!" called out Aequora.

Though her rags were dark of colour, he could still see the patch of crimson liquid, coming out of the hole on her chest, that was now staining her clothes. She wide-opened her eyes and stared at them, seemed not to see them, even Aequora, who had kneeled right beside her, to inspect the wound.

"How could he have injured her at such a distance?" his shipmate asked Karen.

"It was not him," the captain diagnosed, standing on the threshold.

"The smoking gun..." muttered the young lass.

"Stand back!" ordered the captain. "Get off of her immediately!" she warned, her pointing her gun at them all of a sudden.

Had she gone mad! "What're you doing?!" asked the young Pirate Prince.

She kicked him out at once. "Stay there, Samuel! The hole on her chest is too big to have been caused by a single bullet. Aequora, come here immediately," she added, still pointing her pistol.

The young woman obeyed, and, the moment she was at Karen's side, the captain pushed her in Samuel's direction, stepping inside the room for the first time since she had jumped out of the window. "Come out, Snake!" she cried.

A black snake crawled out from behind the Voodoo Priestess, hissing menacingly. Samuel recognized it at once. It was the snake he had seen gliding in the air and 'talking' to Beckett on the _Endeavour_!

"That's right, I know you," the captain added. "You go to Beckett and tell him Captain Karen has a little surprise for him if he ever comes back in her way, by any means," she added, pulling the trigger.

The shot was extremely well-aimed. The bullet landed right next to the snake, without harming Acerbotis. How had Karen learned to shoot like that? She shot another one, and it landed right on the same spot as its predecessor. It was like the bullet read her mind and followed her every orders! The two shots scared the black reptile enough so that it crept out by the window they had smashed and joined Mercer, who had pushed Leanne in the mud.

"See if she's still awake, Aequora," commanded the captain, putting her gun back in place.

"Acerbotis, hang in there," she called out, kneeling besides the old woman once again, patting the woman's cheek as she said this.

The old Priestess looked at her without seeing her. Samuel joined her, taking the old woman's hand, to check her pulse. The Sea Witch jumped at the contact of his hand.

"You!" she cried, as if she had seen him for the first time, which could be true, because he hadn't gotten closer enough for her old eyes to see him before the Blue Coats had arrived. Was she lucid? "You have a touch of destiny about you, Samuel Turner!" she said, taking his hand in hers and putting something in it.

"What?" he exclaimed. Why did this seem familiar to him?

How had she gotten his complete name? She had heard Karen call him Samuel, but how did she come to learn his family name? Had she already made the connexion between him and the successor of Davy Jones, William Turner? He hoped the other girls had not.

Karen kneeled in front of the woman. "Good to know," she commented, mumbling. "Acerbotis, you still owe us an explanation. Where is Davy Jones?"

"Davy Jones!" cried the woman, suddenly looking at the ceiling, and letting go of his hand, to try and reach one of her voodoo dolls that were still hanging from there.

"Where is Davy Jones?" demanded Karen once again, articulating each word of her sentence as if she were talking to a child.

"Davy Jones!" Acerbotis repeated, and pointed at the door.

"What?" Leanne asked, as she looked behind her. She was covered, just like the rest of them, of mud as she stood by the door. "What's all that about?"

When Samuel's eyes returned to the old woman, her eyes had already closed, and there was no pulse anymore. Aequora looked away and stood up. She proceeded into explaining to Leanne what had just happened. Karen stood up as well, straightening her shirt.

"Samuel, throw her body in the swamp. Let her rest in peace in what was once a graveyard," the captain commanded. "Be quick. We have to go save our ship from destruction," she added.

So the cannon balls he had heard from far away actually came from their ship! How could Jack, Norrington and Makoto alone face the whole crew of the East India Company that Beckett had sent after them?

"Come on, Arashi and Sera are already having most of the fun!" Leanne urged them as they ran towards the beach.

So that was where they had been. The Navigator arrived there first. How she had outrun him still remained a mystery to him. She inspected all of the rafts that were on the beach. Theirs had been sabotaged by the Blue Coats.

"Bloody marine!" cursed the captain. "Take this one, it seems okay!"

They started rowing towards the _Insert Name Here_, trying to avoid the cannonballs that had been badly aimed (or aimed at them) as they did. And suddenly, they were close enough to hear a very familiar laughter.

"Ah. Makoto's having fun," remarked Karen.

And suddenly, there was an explosion that excited the waves around them. "What happened?" asked Aequora, turning to see what had caused this to happen.

He imitated her, and saw that the East India Company's ship was torn in flames. Its main mast was already falling apart, and the sails were already catching fire. Some men were already jumping off of the boat, trying to spare their lives while the others attempted to collect enough water in their buckets to save the remains of their ship. How could a single cannonball cause this much destruction?

_"Makoto's a... pyromaniac, in a certain way. She would take advantage of any opportunity to burn things up," had said Lucy when she tried to explain what the difference between their team mates._

"Makoto did this," he presumed.

"No need to save them now, I guess?" Karen said, suddenly letting go of the oar and relaxing on her bench. "Row, Samuel, we don't have all day!"

"We missed all the fun!" complained the Navigator, still rowing towards their ship.

"At least they're okay," shrugged Aequora, helping them with her oar.

Samuel thought about it as he oared them back. What had the old woman given him? He had just had the time to put it in his pocket before Karen could see it. If she had thought it was a treasure, would she have taken it away from him? Why had Acerbotis say that he had a touch of destiny about him? Why did this seem so memorable? He dug inside his mind, trying to find the answers to his questions, but found nothing that could help him.

"Hurry, Samuel, there might still be some Blue Coats left on board for us!" urged Leanne, cutting him short in his chain of thoughts.

"Old woman, we will avenge you," they promised, sending one last look to the island.

_**Little did he know that what he held in his pocket could be the key to what had been laid ahead... **_

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**That's enough for today, okay? Hoped you enjoyed!  
Please comment/review if you can and if you have questions, I'm really sorry if there are some errors in it. I would also like to point out that I really worked hard on my fighting scene, so please don't criticise it too much? I know I still have some improvements to do.  
Thanks for reading Purple Moon! **


	10. Chapter 9: The Stolen Pouch

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 9: The Stolen Pouch**

By CrystallicPrincess

**Today's title sucks, I'm sorry. I really worked hard in a week to get this done... I wanted it to be posted yesterday (it was Christmas yesterday in my time) but I guess this will do. I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense or anything... And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if I don't get to post by then, okay? **

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"Oh, you're back. So, how was it?" was the first thing Makoto said when they heaved themselves onboard. The Helmsmate was at her post, readying the ship to their eminent departure.

Their Captain rolled on the deck's floor, tired already when Samuel had done all the job of rowing their raft. "I'm tired, I'll be in my cabin if you need me," she mumbled, as she almost crawled to her quarters.

Leanne hopped on the ship, and, as if she had too much energy, proceeded into helping Norrington installing the raft where it had been before they had left. Aequora hauled herself on the deck and stayed there, leaning over the wooden ramp. She seemed quite tired from their trip back to the ship. The young man was about to suggest that she takes some rest, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice he had not seen.

"Ahoy mateys!" called out the Captain of the _Black Pearl _from above their heads. Jack Sparrow and Arashi were up on the booms, cutting the cords of the sails loose so that their ship could immediately leave.

Sera was probably in the 'kitchen', making sure that her precious food supply had not been touched by any 'bloody Blue Coat', because she was nowhere on the deck. Perhaps she was preparing that delicious soup she had promised earlier.

"Let's get out of here pronto!" suggested the Coxswain when the _Insert Name Here_ was finally read to sail.

The Coxswain was the mate in charge of the ship when the Captain was gone. Usually, it was the Helmsmate, and it seemed to be in Makoto's personality to lead operations for Karen. Leanne got closer to her friend with her map in hands. She deployed it in front of her and started calculating the distance between Cruces' Island and their next destination.

"Hey, guys, Norrington has something to confess," announced the Coxswain as they left the Blue Coats behind. "It's related to our mission, so listen closely, Karen!" she added.

Jack, who had finished his job, jumped on deck, leaning against a chase gun; a cannon mounted on the rear or on the bow of the boat, and turned his attention to Norrington. Sera came upstairs with a bowl of a pale coloured mixture that she was stirring. Arashi was listening, he knew, even though she was now at her post, on top of the central mast, on the lookout.

Everyone's eyes turned to Villanueva's successor, who looked down. "I-- I have actually met Melusina, and I know what she's up to," he admitted.

"We also know what she's trying to do," answered Karen, from the depths of the closet in her cabin. "Tell me something I don't know," she complained as she got out of her quarters, a grim expression on her face.

Aequora and Samuel sent a puzzled look to one another; neither of them had been informed of any of this.

"I know that even though we have died before, Beckett, Mercer and I can still die," the ex-Commodore retorted.

"Fascinating," Leanne commented, lifting her head from the map she had been reading. "This means that in our next encounter, I won't let him escape that easily," the Navigator smirked as she said this to herself.

At that moment, she seemed eager to have a duel against her favourite opponent. Samuel wondered whether she had let Mercer flee on purpose before any of their fights ended because she thought he were immortal. Could Beckett and Mercer really become immortal if Melusina had decided to grant them immortality?

"Come to think of it, how long has it been? How long have I been gone?" the ex-Commodore demanded, looking around him. "I don't remember pirates of the name of Samuel Turner and Aequora," he added. "Things have changed..."

Why was Norrington only talking about Aequora and the Pirate Prince? He also knew Karen and her crew before? These girls had the same age as him, and had already met Norrington and his parents! How could this be, when Norrington had died so long ago before their birth? Was this because they had all six of them (Lucy included, even though she returned to the dead not so long ago) died long ago before, and that, just like Norrington, Calypso 'snatched them away' from death? They had not been at peace then? He tried not to think of it either.

"You've been less 'away' than us, Norrington," replied Karen, smiling as she let herself fall on a pile of ropes that made a great temporary chair. "Ah. The good times... to think it's been that long already since we left, 'ey Jack?" she added, turning herself to her favourite Pirate Lord.

What did this mean? That these girls were older than him? This only just conduced to his theory about them having lived in his mother's time, died and had been resurrected by Calypso... but he shook his head, trying to chase away the maze of questions that were coming in his head.

"Wait, I have a question. If Norrington didn't make a deal with Melusina, then why is he here?" asked Aequora.

"That's a good question, I don't understand exactly why she revived me either," Norrington added. "Beckett and Mercer were useful to her, but I am not, I refused to help her," he explained. "And then, I ended up among pirates... Alive..."

What had Norrington once told Elizabeth Swan about pirates again? He tried to remember, looking for the scattered images in his mind where his mother and he were talking about her childhood.

"_Think again, Miss Swann. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag, or wears a pirate brand, gets what he deserves: a short drop and a sudden stop._"

"Vile and dissolute..." the young man repeated in a tone so low, that no one heard him.

How did Norrington feel right now once he was among the 'vile and dissolute creatures'? Did he feel like he deserved a 'short drop and a sudden stop'?

The Watchman jumped on the deck. "It's probably because once she revived you guys, she couldn't cancel it anymore. Remember, she needs more energy to perform because her Powers have been sealed," Arashi replied.

What was the Watchman talking about? How could Melusina's Powers have been sealed away? And then, he remembered what he had told Aequora about what he knew of Melusina.

"_She was once the Sea Goddess, but Calypso out powered her and became Sea Goddess, banishing the ex-Goddess away from the sea._"

Because Melusina had been banished from the sea by Calypso, did this mean that her Powers had been 'sealed' away as Arashi said? Hadn't he said something else?

"_Rumours say that she's returned to bind the Queen in her Bones. She resurrected Davy Jones, erased his memories and Lord Cutler Beckett, who practically owns the East Indian Trading Company, in order to achieve her goal. She will be the 'King' and they will be his men. He'll attract Calypso here, by using Davy Jones as bait._"

Did Calypso revive the girls (assuming they had died before) because she wished the girls to retrieve Davy Jones and save him from Melusina's grasp? Assuming this was true, why didn't Calypso do it herself? She was a Goddess after all, why couldn't she save Davy Jones herself? Other questions were coming to his mind as well, but these already made him dizzy. Samuel chose not to ask anyone, and tried to store the questions away in his memory.

Aequora and Norrington had a point, and this made the Pirate Prince wonder... "That's a good question indeed. How could she restore Norrington's life and the others'?" asked Samuel, curious and trying not to think about the crazy theories about his friends dying before and being revived with Powers to save the _Flying Dutchman_'s ex-Captain. "I know she's a goddess and all, but..."

"Haven't you heard of the way Calypso, as Tia Dalma, revived Barbossa thanks to the fact that he hadn't been in peace? Melusina revived Mercer, Cutler Beckett and Norrington because neither of you were at peace when you died. Do you remember how Beckett died?" Arashi answered.

Since when was the Lookout the expert on death and Goddess Powers? Was this because she had died already and because she had been in contact with one of the Goddess' before? Again, other questions filled his mind, but the Pirate Prince pushed them away momentarily, shaking his head as he mentally did this.

Jack Sparrow winced when she said this, as if he remembered suddenly how Lord Cutler Beckett's days had ended the first time. "Not quite peacefully," he stated.

"And what about Mercer?" Aequora asked, because she had not been born when these events happened.

The whole crew had not been born at that time... except for Norrington and Jack, but why did Arashi and her shipmates seem so familiar with these affairs?

Again, Jack made a grimace when he considered answering to the girls. "Let's say Beckett's death was a lot more serene," the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean observed.

Elizabeth Swan, the Pirate King, had not told Samuel how Mercer had died. Was this because she had not been there, or because she found it too unsuitable for him? The Pirate Prince knew that Beckett's death was not something he wished to live, but what about Mercer?

Now that Norrington's question had been answered, Arashi re-positioned herself on the crow's nest, above their heads.

"I was murdered by Davy Jone's crew, as I tried to save the woman I loved," Norrington answered to the question Aequora sent him with a look.

Samuel gulped. He had not forgotten the way his mother had retold to him this part of her life. Why couldn't Norrington get rid of his mother already? The Pirate Prince sighed when he suddenly remembered how his mother had expressed the fact that she wished Norrington hadn't died.

Elizabeth Swan was well off without him and she was way better off with his father. He had only seen how lovely of a couple Elizabeth Swan and William Turner made once, seven years ago. That day was also in Samuel's best memories, for it had been the first time his father had come home, but it also had been in his worst nightmares after what had happened.

Fortunately for him, before the painful images came back to his mind, Arashi screamed from her post on the crow's nest: "A SHIP IS COMING BY! I CAN'T SEE ITS FLAG!" she warned.

"GUYS, TO YOUR POSTS!" commanded their Captain at once.

Samuel, Aequora, Jack and Norrington prepared the chase guns that were on the bow of the ship as Sera disappeared in the 'kitchen'. Leanne ran inside, storing away her maps before it was too late and hopped on the deck just as quickly, unsheathing her sword. Arashi was trying to identify the ship's flag apparently, because she was leaning on the ramps of the crow's nest.

Karen rushed towards her cabin, but Makoto stopped her. "To your post as well, Stupid!" the Helmsmate commanded.

The Captain grumbled something as she climbed the stairs and took out from her pocket the telescope she brought to her eye and took a glimpse at the flag. "It's the East India Company's flag. What do they want this time? That snake didn't understand anything," she sighed, putting the spyglass back where it was. "Is there any way we can avoid the fight?" the Captain's voice sounded serious as she said this.

Leanne looked down, as if she had really looked forward to this fight but was disappointed in their Captain's decision. Jack Sparrow and Norrington stopped what they were doing. Sera came back on the deck with a frying pan and was presently helping out with the chase guns on the rear of the boat. Arashi, up there in the crow's nest, either didn't seem to have heard it, or chose to ignore it. Samuel looked up at her when she asked the Coxswain and waited for Makoto's answer.

Why would Karen wish not to fight with their enemy? Was she tired? Were they in a hurry? The Pirate Prince took a look behind the stern. Cruces Island was still not so far behind. Mercer was probably among the sailors that were still in the water, or of the ones that had reached the beach of the piece of land already. Perhaps was it the fact that they were surrounded by the East India Company's presence that made Karen feel uneasy?

Makoto seemed unhappy with this sudden decision not to fight. She made a face, and then, answered: "Unless we perform _that_, we can't avoid them," the Helmsmate evaluated. "There might be a chance if we had some wind," she added, looking down on Leanne, who had closed her eyes.

There was no wind.

"What is your decision, Mate?" Karen asked Leanne, as if the Navigator could do something about the lack of wind.

The Captain's interlocutor's eyes remained closed, as if she were in a trance. She smirked before answering their Captain's question. "Let the boy decide," she said, in a way that made her sound really old.

Everyone turned themselves to the Pirate Prince. He could even feel the pressure of Arashi's eyes from above him.

He didn't like the way the Navigator had designed him as 'the boy'. It felt like he was still a child, when they had technically and physically the same age (if he was still taking his theories in consideration). "What?" Samuel mumbled. "What are you talking about?"

He had no intention to fight, but were they sincerely going to accept his decision? Why would Leanne decide this all of a sudden? Why would she let him decide when she clearly wanted a battle? Why would his decision be that important? There was no wind, so if they didn't want to fight, how could they get out of this if they didn't have any?

"What do you want, to fight or not to fight?" Aequora asked.

His shipmate seemed to have followed the conversation, and she seemed not as tired as she had been a second ago.

Suddenly, without a reason he would call rational, he had a change of heart. "I guess that I'm still up for some fighting," he quickly said. What was up with him?

"Now you're talking!" exclaimed Leanne, as she prepared a rope that was hanging from the booms of the ship, that she was going to turn into a vine and use to jump on the other ship once they were closer to the enemy's ship. She was slashing the air with her already drawn sword.

And suddenly, there was a small breeze. From where had it come from? Was it pure coincidence, or Powers? Did someone on this ship have the Power to control the winds? Or was it someone else? Was Calypso listening, and had granted them the gust of wind, to show him that she could do anything?

"Hoist the colours then!" commanded Karen, when the ship was within their range. "We should at least tell them who they are facing, or they might never guess what, or who stroke them."

Jack Sparrow attended to this job, pulling the cord which raised the ship's flag. It caught the small waft sent, apparently, by Calypso so that the East India Company's soldiers could all see it clearly and decide whether to engage into a fight with their ship or not.

It was the first time the Pirate Prince actually took the time to stare up to the sky and detail the flag in his memory. The background was black, just as all good pirates' banner. The usual pure white skull above two long weapons, a long bar and a sword, (this was rather unusual) set in an x-mark arrangement was in the middle of the Jolly Roger.

"It's not like it's a fight we can't win," observed Norrington in a mutter, almost to reassure the Pirate Lord's thoughts.

"Then why didn't Karen wish to fight?" Samuel retorted.

"Women, never try to understand them, it could lead you to death," the Pirate Lord, successor of Villanueva, replied, half smirking, half sombre.

The man left Samuel to think about the conditions in which Norrington had died. Had Norrington had such a bad experience with women (ever since Elizabeth Swan) that he despised them now (assuming that he didn't consider the crew of this ship women but pirates)?

'_Ah, my thoughts don't make sense..._' the young man thought and, once again shuddered.

"The _Endeavour_!" identified the Captain from her position. This intervention snapped the Pirate Prince out of his chain of thoughts and focus on their current situation. "Didn't we take care of it last time? How could it come back in one piece after what Makoto did to it?"

Was this because Melusina had sprayed some of her Magic over the ship?

'_Stop thinking about such things, Samuel, snap out of it_,' he commanded to himself mentally as he drew his sword, ready for an eventual clash between the two boats.

"Captain Karen, you and your crew are hereby under arrest, prepare to fight and die, or surrender now, and die later," said a voice from the ship that was still coming towards them.

"How flattering, they are actually giving us the option," smiled Karen but suddenly, her face froze into an unhappy expression. "Wait, that voice..." she remarked, taking out her spyglass once again.

Next to Samuel, Jack Sparrow grumbled. "Beckett."

This must have been a joke. How could Beckett so easily locate them? How could he have come so quickly as well? The young man squeezed his eyes, checking for himself if his sayings were true. And indeed, it was His Majesty the King's representative standing on the stern of the ship. On Lord Cutler Beckett's shoulder was the snake that had departed the island not so long ago, which Samuel had first mistaken for a big thick black rope. Next to him was...

"Mercer!" spotted Leanne, her sword ready. "Leave him to me," she added to everyone's intention.

The Navigator didn't want anyone killing her prey after all.

"Then I guess that leaves me Beckett?" asked Karen, smiling as she drew her sword from its sheath.

"Actually, I was looking forward to fighting the man myself," opposed Norrington, unsheathing his own weapon.

"While you settle this between yourselves, how about I take care of him?" inquired Jack as he got closer to Leanne's rope and snatched it away from her. "I got unfinished business with him I wish to... finish," he added, and swung from the ship to the _Endeavour_.

The Captain of the _Black Pearl_ had the perfect timing and landed without any harm on the _Endeavour_'s stern, right behind their enemy. Jack threw the rope back to Leanne, who followed his lead and arrived right next to him. They were facing their opponents now, as the soldiers climbed up the stairs to help their leaders.

"We'll settle this later, Norrington," decided Karen.

Sera, the captain and the other Pirate Lord imitated the Navigator at the same time and landed on the stern as well, right in front of the soldiers.

"If you want a fight, I believe we will be your opponents," said Karen.

"And so be it," added Norrington as he rushed towards their enemies. "To think I would actually fight against the East India Company one day."

Other soldiers obeyed the first orders they had been given and did the same thing as Leanne did, only... landed on the _Insert Name Here_'s deck! With one swift but brusque turn of the helm, Makoto made the ship rotate and directed it towards their freedom -- away from the _Endeavour_, so that no other soldiers could venture on their ship's deck. Also, due to the brutal turn, some soldiers even ended up cursing as they fell in the waters as there had been no ship to land on. It was nice and quick thinking.

Arashi slid down from the mast, and drew her sword.

"Come and get it," Aequora said, next to him.

"Guys, don't let them get to Makoto!" warned the Lookout, pointing at the Helmsmate.

The Coxswain was quite important (since she was the only one of the ship's crew that was serious and responsible) and she also quite busy, trying to manoeuvre the ship so that it did not crash on the rocks that were laid near the beach of Crosses Island.

"And don't let them go in Karen's cabin!" ordered Makoto from the rear of the boat.

"Hurry!"

Aequora placed herself on the stairs that were placed on the right as the Watchman took her place on the one on the left. Samuel stayed in the middle, keeping Karen's treasure and cabin, along with Leanne's maps, safe. They now formed a barrier against the enemy. Fortunately, no Blue Coat had succeeded in passing their lines.

The soldiers grinned to each other once they were facing their opponents. There were about twelve of them at least. That was enough for Arashi, Samuel and Aequora to fight at least four each. Did they stand a chance when Makoto was to be protected? Did she even need protection? Probably, since all of her concentration was directed to the ship's destination: the sea.

"Quite a nice crew of girls you got there, Pirate," the one in the middle told Samuel.

"Reminds me of my dream as a teenager," dreamily commented another enemy.

"Shut up, Larry."

Were they all under the wrong impression that Samuel was the captain of the _Insert Name Here_? The Pirate Prince tried to think of a good reply.

"Do you even have the slightest idea what the name of our ship even is?" inquired the Watchman, rather disdainfully.

That was a good reply, wasn't it? Arashi most definitely did not seem to bear the navy in her heart. Not that Samuel had any good memories of the East India Trading Company either. They had interrupted his parents' wedding after all... Though Beckett had put it differently...

What was it that he had said to his mother at that time? "_So I did. A marriage interrupted. Or fate intervenes._" Was it truly fate that had separated his parents? Was it fate that had separated Samuel himself from his mother few years ago?

"A Pirate ship remains a Pirate ship. It does not have a name for us navy," responded a third one, spitting on the floor.

This behaviour outraged the three Pirates, but the most angered must have been the young man.

"Hey! I will have to mop that afterwards!" exclaimed Samuel, remembering all the hard work it had taken him to make the deck sparkle, to Karen's pleasure. "You'll pay!"

"He thinks he stands a chance," muttered someone among them, surprised.

From behind them, the young man could see the _Endeavour_ chasing after them, not even bothering to fishing up the sailors that had landed in the sea (who were now swimming towards Cruces Island's beach). He could also see Norrington, Karen and Sera (she was still holding the thing she called a frying pan) fending off their enemies at a very swift pace, but since it was their ship, the Blue Coats seemed to be numberless and kept coming at them. His friends would soon tire out. The Pirate Prince could also see the fights between Mercer and Leanne, as well as Jack's sword's interview with Beckett's.

'_I didn't know that Beckett actually knew how to fight_,' observed the young lad, surprised.

Was it even truly what he was seeing? From the far away ship that was coming towards them. Was this distance showing him things that were not really happening, but were close it? But suddenly, a voice pierced through his mind and the thoughts vanished.

"ATTACK ALREADY!" instructed the Helmsmate from the top of the stern, still holding the helm. "I'D LIKE TO SEE SOME ACTION!" she added.

As if it only took an order to begin the fight, the soldiers started to prepare for the fight. Samuel's sword immediately clashed with his first opponent's. He pushed the man away from him, not trying to kill, but injuring them enough for them so that they would stop coming. Karen's treasure had to remain safe in the closets. What if whatever she had stored in there was truly precious? What would happen if she discovered that something had been stolen and that he had self-proclaimed himself as protector of her cabin at the time when it had been stolen?

'_No doubt, she would shoot me heart without hesitation_,' the young man's thought answered his question.

"Darn it, kill 'em all, Samuel!" added Aequora, as she stabbed the man Samuel had just wounded. "Kill them before they kill you!" she added, taking a step forward. "Better you than them!"

The Pirate Prince froze and stared at his shipmate trying to end her enemies' lives as quickly as possible. He had to say that at that moment, she really sounded like a pirate... until he noticed that he remained unmoving for a long instant when another Blue Coat arrived and stroke.

'_Snap out of it, Stupid_,' he thought.

What was happening to him exactly? Why did he freeze all of a sudden so often these days? Was this due to the fact that he was used to being all alone? If this spacing out continued, he was likely to die before even having the chance to find his mother and father again.

His next opponent was one buffed man, with deadly blows.

'_Just my luck... Don't space out now, Samuel_,' he threatened himself.

"Beckett says there's a reward for each child 17 of age, aye, Larry? This boy here look 17 enough, doesn't he?" the young Pirate Prince's opponent asked the man that was fighting Aequora at the moment.

What was he talking about? Why did Beckett want teenagers of 17 years old? Was he looking for someone that he knew? Or was he looking for someone that Melusina had sent him looking for?

"Aye, if you want the boy, you'll have to take him back alive, Steve," answered the one named Larry, grinning when Steve made a grumpy face. "Don't forget that if we can't get the ship, we can at least get what Beckett actually wanted from inside that cabin. This girl actually isn't this bad, isn't she?" he commented, as he paraded one of Aequora's quick moves.

What was it that he was talking about? What was it that Beckett wanted that was inside that cabin? Samuel had been in there once, and he could not remember anything that had been stored in there that could be precious enough for the King's representative to seek for.

This man surnamed Larry by the Blue Coats seemed amused by the situation. It was probably because Steve was willing to kill Samuel that he was making such a face while fighting.

What was he saying? He wanted to take Aequora away as well? He wished to take the whole crew along with him (they were all, even Lucy, about 17 years old, except Jack Sparrow and James Norrington)? If Beckett had wished to find boys and girls of their age, why did Mercer, who had always, for some reason, been loyal to Cutler Beckett, killed Lucy? Wait, Lucy had jumped out of her free will in the waters, right? Mercer had only cornered her. Did Lucy know this? Did the Rig Master know that Beckett kidnapped children of their age? Was this the reason why she had chosen death over capture? What could Beckett have done to those children that was worse than death?

Whatever it was, he would not let it happen to anyone that he knew. Suddenly, the Pirate Prince was suddenly angered, and this new but unreasonable fury gave him a new energy. Samuel kicked his opponent's knee and dodged the next strike Steve made as he fell.

"If you think I'll let you capture any of us that easily," mumbled the young man, as he jumped back in front of the cabin's door.

"Do you truly think you are in the position to argue, boy? If your Helmsmate is captured, you will all go down with her," roared the named Steve as he bounced on the stern with only a jump.

"Come back here! I'm not through with you for spitting on the deck!" shouted Samuel, as he attempted to follow... but the stairs were blocked by the fights that were taking place in front of them.

He tried jumping as well up to that seemingly unreachable stern, but this was impossible for him. But by jumping, he caught a glimpse of the _Endeavour_ really close to them this time.

There were now only three Blue Coats left. The only unnamed one was the one that Arashi was fighting. The big Hercules, Steve, had slipped away from Samuel's fingers was the second one, and Larry, the one Aequora had still not finished off, was the third one.

"Geez, this guy is a Hercules," Larry sighed as he evaded Samuel's friend's attack.

The sailor slashed the air, and pushed Aequora backwards... and... She fell... right in the water!

"Aequora!" he called out as he was pushed aside by the Blue Coat that had just shoved his shipmate overboard.

Larry then entered Karen's cabin. The two ships were now side to side with each other. Now that Makoto was fighting Steve and maintaining the ship's direction, they had lost their advantage on speed.

'_What should I do? Should I save Aequora, was she hit? Is she gravely injured? Or should I pursue Larry?_'

Would he rather make sure that his friend is safe, and getting killed by Karen for letting the Blue Coat steal her treasure, or spare his life and not save Aequora? And then, without thinking, Samuel saw himself throwing his sword on the deck and was even more surprised when he saw himself jumping into the waters as well.

"IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed both Arashi and Makoto at that time, but he only heard it muffled through the water.

The young man plunged in the water and pulled the young woman out of it. He was relieved to find out that she was not injured after all. Once they had reached the surface, he saw a shadow jump from their boat to the _Endeavour_. Larry looked at them, holding a pouch of leather in his hand.

"Thanks for everything!" he said, smirking.

When Aequora got out of the water and saw this, she punched him. "STUPID! What are you doing? Go after him!"

A dead body, attached by a rope to the _Insert Name Here_'s brig, who had been trying to stop the Lookout, fell in the water next to them. "Guys, grab this!" Arashi said. "And you," she started, pointing at the Prince of Pirates disdainfully, "get on that darn boat and GET WHATEVER THAT GUY TOOK BACK!"

Samuel dived from where they were to the ship that Larry had landed on. He grabbed a cord that had been hanging from the deck, and pulled, hauling himself on the deck, and looking for the man that had stolen something from Karen.

All the fights that were going on around him did not matter, else than that Larry-guy, but he wasn't able to see him anywhere! Then, he saw Karen, Norrington and Sera jump back on the _Insert Name Here_'s deck, and he saw Makoto turn the helm abruptly once again.

"GET AWAY FROM MAH WIFE, YOU THIEF!" screamed Karen as she jumped on Steve, and pushing him overboard.

The Sea Witch's ship was going away... without him! Without a weapon, Samuel could not fight the Blue Coats that were coming towards him. He decided to climb the stairs and reached the _Endeavour_'s stern, and ended up facing the fight between Beckett and Jack. Actually, it was not a fight. They were talking, the first one walking towards the other one, who was actually clinging on a cord and waiting for the cannon to unleash its cannon ball on the mast, and pull the rope (this was Jack's usual escape plan, apparently).

"Jack!" called out the young man, running towards the Captain of the _Black Pearl_ and grabbing the rope just in time before the chase gun released the cannon ball.

They were pulled in the air when the mast fell on the deck.

"Bugger! What are you doing here for, Samuel?" asked Jack Sparrow, as they were still in the air.

The Pirate Prince did not answer. They finally landed on the _Insert Name Here_'s deck.

"And that," started Jack, proudly as he raised a jar of rum, "was without a single drop of rum!" he announced, before drinking all of its contents.


	11. Chapter 10: The Purple Moon

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 10: The Purple Moon **

By: CrystallicPrincess

_That night, the moon had gone purple, but it was hard to see it through the curtain of dark clouds that had appeared out of nowhere. They could only hear the sound of the drops of rain falling on the roof of the house. _

_The waves were carrying the raft far far away from the island. The storm had ripped the main and only mast of the small boat away from the young sailor. _

_The young man screamed for help. He had certainly not wished to go this far of __**the**__ island. _

_...but no one heard him... no one could hear him... The noise the storm was making covered his cry. _

_...no one from the house, that was... _

_Samuel was running along the beach, trying to see what it was that had gone wrong. He had not seen this storm coming... _

_It wasn't supposed to happen... None of this was supposed to happen... _

_The charts couldn't possible have lied to him... He had been able to perfectly read them since he was a kid! _

_There was not supposed to be a storm... But because he had not foreseen this, the raft was going to crash on the cliff and he couldn't do anything to help it. _

_What would their parents say if they discovered that he had done the one thing they had forbidden them to do? How could he repair this now? Was a single mistake like this one even repairable? _

"_JAMES!" he screamed the young man's name. _

_The young sailor's eyes met Samuel's for a small instant. _

_At that exact moment, thunder struck the boat, and sure enough, he remembered that after the raft had disappeared within the purple light of the thunder shock, Samuel never saw James ever again. _

"I think you went a bit too hard on the kid," commented a voice.

Was someone talking about him again? Why was everyone calling him a kid? He wasn't that young... Was this a dream again? Had Samuel drifted inside another dream?

The young man was woken up by the contact of cold water on his face. "Samuel! Wake up, Eunuch!!" called out the voice of the person who had sent him the wake-up call.

The 'eunuch' opened his eyes, dizzy. What had happened?!

Karen faced him, looking angrier than even Makoto's usual self. Why did she look so irritated at him all of a sudden? Had he done something wrong? Had he slept too long? Was his shift over already?

The Navigator was standing right next to the _Insert Name Here_'s Captain. Leanne was the one who had spoken first, before the Pirate Prince had received the content of the bucket of sea water on the face. She was looking at him as if he did deserve what Karen had done to him, so he guessed that he really had done something wrong.

Arashi and Sera were nowhere to be seen on the deck. The Pirate Prince assumed the first one was on the crow's nest, on the lookout, while the second one was preparing breakfast... or was it dinner time already? What time of the day was this exactly?

Jack Sparrow and James Norrington were probably sleeping. Their shift was done then? Was it his turn to mop the deck? Had the young man lost track of time that badly? How long had he been asleep?

Makoto was at the helm, on the stern, looking at them from time to time. Where were they heading exactly? He couldn't remember if they had finally decided of a direction to take. As a matter of fact, he seemed incapable of remembering anything regarding what had happened before he had fallen asleep.

Aequora stood right next her, sending him an apologizing look. Why was she apologizing to him? Had she made him do something that had angered Karen? Was Samuel even making sense? If something like that happened, what exactly had occurred indeed?

"Wh-where am I? What am I doing here?" he asked, as he tried to rub his eyes... but he realized that his hands were blocked at the moment.

Samuel couldn't move at all! A closer look helped him realize that he had been attached to the center mast of the ship!!! What had happened? What had he done to deserve such a harsh treatment as this one?!

"YOU DARE ASK THIS AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE, WHELP!?" barked the Captain.

And suddenly, as if the water coming from the sea had just worked up its magic, the Prince of Pirates finally woke up for real and remembered everything.

"_And that," had started Jack, proudly as he raised a jar of rum, "was without a single drop of rum!" he had announced, before drinking all of its contents. _

_But already, their ship was fleeing from the _Endeavour_'s sight. They couldn't dare be in Beckett's presence anymore. _

_Norrington had decided to lean back on one of their unused chase guns and was resting at that moment. Jack was drinking another jar of rum. When would he stop? Makoto was working on getting them out of the _Endeavour_'s chase guns' range as Arashi, Aequora and Karen had gathered up to talk about something. _

_However someone seemed to be missing... Who? Had they forgotten someone on the _Endeavour_? Where was Leanne? The young Pirate Prince looked in the _Endeavour_'s direction, and was surprised to see her jump in the water and dive in their direction at an amazing speed. Where had she learned to swim like that? _

_But before the Pirate Prince had had the time to tell Makoto to slow down so they could haul their Navigator on the deck, he overheard what Karen, Arashi and Aequora were saying: _

_It seemed like Arashi had told something to the Captain that had angered her, and Aequora was trying to restrain Karen from doing something bad or so it seemed... _

"_...It wasn't really his fault, it was also partially mine," was saying Aequora. "Don't blame him..." _

_Were they talking about him? Had Arashi dared to tell Karen that he had let Larry escape without being able to get the item he had stolen back? Was their Captain going to shoot him for letting a stranger go into her cabin? Was he going to dare and look? _

"_I don't care about that for now..." mumbled Karen's voice, which was getting closer. _

"_Karen, don't...!" warned Makoto, from the helm. _

"_I know!" interrupted the Captain, anger shaking her voice. _

_What was Makoto warning Karen about? Were they hiding something else from him? Was the Coxswain telling the Captain not to kill him? Samuel started to feel a bit reassured by this thought. Karen couldn't kill him, right? But just in case, he started to think of a reason he would give the Pirate Lord that would convince her not to kill him. What would he say? _

"_Karen, you shouldn't..." had started Aequora, but it seemed that Karen had shrugged her off. "Jack!" she called to the rescue. _

"_Now, Captain Karen, are you sure this is the opportune moment to..." _

"_YES I BELIEVE THIS IS THE RIGHT MOMENT TO..." replied the female Pirate Lord, purposely not continuing her sentence. _

_Footsteps started to echo to his ear. What was happening behind him exactly? He turned around... just in time to see Karen coming right up to him with her pistol raised. Was she going to shoot him for real?! _

"_Did you get that item that bloody Blue Coat stole from my office?" asked the Captain; the cannon of the pistol had been elevated towards his head. _

_Aequora was shaking her head, safe behind Karen. The Captain could not see this. Was Samuel supposed to lie? _

_Arashi, next to his friend, was smiling, or something. He wasn't sure, but she had deserted Aequora and was now climbing up to the crow's nest, nothing held her here now. She was of no help at all! _

_Even under pressure, he shouldn't lie... Even though this was not the attitude of a Pirate, it would go against him in a worse way if Karen even found out that Samuel had lied. "I wasn't able to retrieve it," he answered. _

_What could be so important to Karen, a few worthless coins in a pouch? She had much more treasures back in her closet, much more valuable, much more... shiny than just a little pouch... why did she worry so much? _

_...But asking this -- the young man somehow knew -- would just worsen the state of anger in which Karen had entered already. What had James Norrington told him again? Not to mess around with women? That was what he was thinking about... _

"_Tch. You are at least honest," Villanueva's successor commented, lowering her gun for an instant, as if she was thinking about it. "But you still let those miscreants in my office, you will be punished!" she decided. _

_That was when Leanne jumped on board, looking rather pleased with herself even though she said: "I wasn't able to kill Mercer, but at least I wounded him. He won't be able to fight for the next several days..." _

_Because of the Navigator's sudden arrival, the young man did not see the blow coming. The Captain had raised the pistol and used it as a club to hit the young man so hard on the head that it knocked the Prince of Pirates out. _

_Before everything blackened out in front of him, Leanne's voice resonated in his head. "What'd the lad do?" _

_And Makoto's approved tone when she commented: "Those pistols are indeed effective..." _

And then after the punishment he had gotten in front of everyone and after the nothingness of the dream he had just gotten, nothing else had occurred to him before this. Leanne's eyes were mocking him now that she had been filled in with the things that she had missed while duelling against the scarred Mercer. Aequora was still shaking her head in disapproval, as if asking questions was only aggravating his case in front of the Pirate Lord that Karen had become all of a sudden only because someone had stolen one of her treasures.

Keeping all of her treasures in a single place was surely no good hideout, but he chose not to tell her something like this when she was as irritated as this.

"I have decided of your punishment," announced the Captain, who seemed to have meditated rather a long time before this.

What?! What she had done to his poor head was not enough for her? How much was that pouch worth exactly?! What was in there anyways?! Was it really coins, rare coins? What if it were something else? What if it were...

What if it were...a bottle of the Immortality Elixir?

'_Wow... that last thought was way too farfetched_,' the Prince of Pirates thought, shaking his head. '_What's my punishment exactly? It can't be that bad... right?_'

"Are you going to do like you did to that old man back in Africa?" asked Makoto, looking kind of excited.

What had Karen done to that old man back in Africa exactly? And suddenly, Samuel remembered what Karen had once said when they had first met.

"_You have the nicest drink of this island, Helga. Now, can I ask you if anyone's up to enrolling in my crew? We're lacking one mate, see? Don't pick me someone too old, like last time. That old geezer got eaten by -"_

What had eaten that last guy exactly? Would Karen dare throw him to a man-eating creature? "What is she talking about? What happened to that old man?" The young Pirate Prince asked. "What did he do to Karen exactly?"

"That guy had never been really lucky," remarked Leanne, shaking her head as if she remembered all the times that the 'old man' had been on their ship. "He was trying to tell everyone that the _Insert Name Here_'s crew was really all of girls, and he was trying to reveal to the others who we were."

Samuel gulped. '_Then I won't make that mistake..._' he decided. "But what happened to him exactly?" the young man asked.

The Captain shrugged. She didn't care. "That old geezer got eaten by a swarm of piranhas back in Africa, why?"

He gasped. From the stern, he could see Aequora's wide-opened eyes. How could Karen let her shipmate die eaten by piranhas?! Would she dare let the Prince of Pirates depart this life as miserably as that?

"Because he thinks you're going to send a 'swarm of piranhas' after him, silly," answered Arashi, from the top of her post.

"Nah, I have something much worse..." commented the Karen, smiling evilly.

What could be worse than piranhas?!

Was Villanueva's successor going to send him back to **that** island? She didn't even know where he lived before coming here... so it was impossible that he could be sent back **there**.

Then what would it be? Was she going to take him back to Tortuga? He didn't want Mr. Gibbs to find him! What would Mr. Gibbs do? The sailor knew where Samuel came from, and would probably send him back to **that place**, as his mother had probably told him to.

It seemed that it was too farfetched as well... What else would it be then? Was the Pirate Lord going to sell him to the slave market so that his price would pay off for the item he actually lost? Would Karen be able to do something like this?

'_Yes, she can, and she probably will... (after all... she hates me...) if no one stops her... I have to find something!_' he answered his own question.

"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to do what you did to that other guy we hired before that old geezer?" asked the Lookout, as she slid down from the Crow's Nest.

The Unemotional Girl was beaming at him, as if she was happy they were going to finally get rid of him. Leanne shuddered and Makoto's eyes darkened. Whatever had happened to that 'other guy' seemed to be worse than the piranha incident from the sounds of them talking about it.

"What happened to that other guy?" the young lad asked, clearly trying to stall. "What did he do?"

"Karen attached his ankles together with a cannonball and threw him in the sea," answered Leanne. "I don't have to add that he died really awfully right?"

This was indeed worse than piranhas. Samuel remembered how his grandfather, Bootstrap Bill Turner, had been sentenced to die by Barbossa (it had been the same treatment as what Leanne just described), and hoped that the _Flying Dutchman_ wasn't hiring new recruits, because if what had happened to Bootstrap could happen to that 'other guy', Karen would have made herself an enemy aboard the _Flying Dutchman_ by doing that. He couldn't imagine not being able to breathe, his lungs in fire, as they often said in stories.

"Hey," mumbled Karen, nudging her Navigator. "It isn't my fault if he was supposed to keep my treasures safe, and still tried to steal some of it!" she exclaimed.

This error made by the 'other guy' was indeed closer to what the crime he had committed. Would her plan to kill him be worse or close to this guy's punishment? Would Karen dare do this to him when he had been so useful?

"Nah, that's not what I was planning to do," she answered to his thoughts, as if she were reading them.

"Then what are you going to do?" impatiently asked the Helmsmate.

"It hurts me to say this, but we really need to be only with girls for this next trip we're going, so we are going to maroon you, Jack and Norrington on an island of our choice, not too far from where we're going. Don't worry; we'll come back for you later," the Captain added.

'_Yeah right..._' thought the young prisoner, rolling his eyes interiorly.

Karen was probably only hurt because she had to abandon Jack Sparrow on a piece of land alone with Norrington and Samuel...

...but he had to say... it wasn't as bad as he thought it was...

"Does Jack know YOU are going to maroon him?" asked Makoto and Leanne, eyeing their Captain suspiciously.

Indeed, since neither Jack Sparrow, nor James Norrington was here, they didn't know of Karen's latest decision yet, right? What would his reaction be? But... there was no one worrying for Norrington at all... They were more worrying about Jack (he was the most probable to try and escape).

"Is it my fault that person we're going to see lives on an island with AMAZONS?!" asked the Captain of the _Insert Name Here_ as she stomped on the floor. "Besides, that's why I put Samuel, who needs to be punished, and Norrington, who is the most responsible of them three, with him. I thought of everything!" Karen added, rather proudly.

Did Karen say Amazons? What had he heard Uncle Gibbs say about Amazons again? Amazons were female warriors that lived only with each other (girls...) and apparently hated men. Mr. Gibbs used to say that the Amazons were not permitted to have sexual encounters or reside in the Amazon country. It was even said that these women hated men so much that they used to kill the ones that dared enter their territory. No one was really sure where they lived exactly either... but... the person they were looking for now lived among the Amazons? Then... that was why Jack, Norrington and he had to be left behind!

"What if he tries to make a run for it again?" asked Makoto. "I'm not going to sail all over the world again JUST to find him AGAIN!"

"...but this is Jack, right?" Samuel argued. "Jack's probably been all over the world, and probably met these Amazons already," he said. "Maybe it won't be so bad if he comes..."

"No, you don't get it, he IS Jack, that's the problem..." the Captain shuddered. "We have to keep him away from them... you don't know if he owes them something... of if he had any... relationship with any of them..."

"But I have to agree with Makoto, we can't let Jack disappear again, when we already have to find Elizabeth..." started the Navigator. "We shouldn't maroon any of them on that island... those sea turtles..."

"Yeah, I know... Tell me about it..." agreed the Captain, cutting Leanne short in her sentence. "So... okay, I found a new punishment for him..."

"What'd you find?" asked the young Aequora, her eyes wide opened. She seemed to hope that it wasn't too bad.

Next to her, Makoto seemed to already know what Karen had in mind... she was smirking so evilly that he had to worry. Could he change the subject and stall? "So... you are going to let Norrington, Jack and I go to the Amazons Country?"

Anything had to be better than a ship with girls (if you could call these shipmates of his girls...)... even the Amazons seemed to be less harmful than Karen, or Makoto.

"We'll talk about that later, when we get there... and IF you are still alive..." answered Karen, making him a nasty look and a snicker.

"What are you talking about?! You can't kill me!"

"What makes you think I can't?!"

She seemed very mean at that moment.

"You will remain here until we arrive. You will have to stay attached like that to the mast, no food, maybe some water... or rum... whatever will do... sea water?"

"You will let me STARVE?!"

"Don't worry, you'll only need to survive for... two days," said Leanne, consulting her map as she tried to reassure him. "Maybe three, if the weather isn't good enough..." she added.

The Amazons had to be worth it...

**

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**

HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS! (I posted this 3 minutes after midnight... but I decided that it was too short and lame, so I disactivated it, I'm so sorry...)

**I know that this is a very short part, but I promise I'll try to make the next one worth it... I hope... Yeah... you got to know why the whole story is called Purple Moon too, so... happy new year... and next part will probably be posted here a week later (next weekend probably, or in few days) **

**Happy New Year and I hope you guys will enjoy**


	12. Chapter 11: The Queen of the Amazons

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 11: The Queen of the Amazons**

By: CrystallicPrincess

**Hey guys! This is the next part I promised for this week. *glares at a particular someone* I hope you'll enjoy it.  
I forgot to mention that the first part in part 10 that was italicized was actually a dream that Samuel had gotten few parts ago and that it's just been... more detailed than before...  
Enjoy this part! **

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Karen and Leanne had decided it was best to follow the flow of the river that flowed into the sea in the continent and had found a dock where they could anchor the _Insert Name Here_. Something weird with the port was that there was nothing there but a dock. There was no house where they would pay the fee to anchor there. Briefly put, there was nothing else but the dock and the dense vegetation of the jungle. In other words, they would have to walk to find the Amazon village, and leave someone behind to look after the ship. Samuel wondered how the girls had known of this dock when there seemed to be no civilization here whatsoever.

"Now, we are all going to leave the ship here," announced Karen, coming out of her cabin without her cloak.

The Captain was wearing her African ceremonial-style robes (the colourful robes that he had seen her wear at Shipwreck Cove). She was also wearing her tall green African headdress that looked like a crown from the way she wore it. Her two large golden earrings pended from her ears and matched with the large necklace that was on her neck. The same three large golden rings were adorning her fingers. This was Gentleman Jocard's successor, Captain Karen.

Why did she say that they were ALL going? Who would watch the ship? Was this another Sea Witch trick?

"Why are you wearing these clothes again, Karen?" the Pirate Prince asked.

Was this a tradition or something? If it were, how did she know of it? Was this the first time she went to see the Amazons? Was this because she wanted the Amazons to know who she was (a Pirate Lord)?

Jack Sparrow, Aequora and James Norrington were the only ones on the deck at that time except for Samuel himself. They didn't wear anything special to meet the Amazons.

The Captain shrugged and looked at him at first as if she was wondering if he really had to ask. "Is that of your business?" she asked, glaring at him.

Instantly, Samuel remembered the offence that he had made her not so long ago and decided to keep his questions for himself and keep his mouth shut... for now...

Leanne came out of the cabin at the same time as Sera. They were soon followed by Arashi and Makoto. All four of them were wearing the same African ceremonial robes as Karen, but with different colours. Leanne wore lavender and silver colours, while Sera's were all black. Arashi had chosen a robe with white, dark, red and silver while Makoto had chosen to be slightly simpler; only wearing deep purple and silver clothing. They didn't wear any headdress though, so the young man decided that it was only the Captain's right to be dressed in it. Lucy probably also had an outfit like that that she would never again wear... thought the Pirate Prince, suddenly feeling a stab of pain at this notion.

Lucy would have answered his questions about the traditional African robes... He shook his head and concentrated on the words his mother had given him not much than seven years ago.

"_Death is part of life. We have to let the dead go and live on..."_

Elizabeth Swan had told him this after she had told him the story of when she had joined up with Barbossa to travel to **Davy Jones' Locker** to find Jack, and had discovered that her father had died. She had also told him something like that on **that day**. The Pirate Prince winced when the images of **that dreadful day** arrived in his mind. He also remembered how sad the Pirate King looked when she had recalled these anecdotes and felt like he didn't like feeling this kind of emotion twice in a lifetime.

"Are we set?" asked Makoto, who had decided to take the lead, sitting on the edge of the deck, reading to jump on the quay. "Let's go then." The Coxswain was going to hop off-board when a voice stopped her.

"Wait, why are we leaving the ship here unguarded?" inquired Aequora. "What if someone else came inside and stole one of Karen's treasures?" she added, sheepishly looking in Samuel's direction as she did.

Samuel felt a bit relieved that someone else than himself wondered this. When the Captain's treasures were mentioned, Karen looked very fierce and she was death-staring at him.

"Would I let my treasure unsafe after what happened two days ago?" Gentleman Jocard's successor mumbled, but Leanne nudged her.

"Who says it will be unguarded?" answered Arashi with a question.

"What do you mean?" asked James Norrington, a bit confused.

Someone else had had the same question as him!

"By that, she means that there will be someone to keep an eye on it," answered Sera. "It's just that neither of us are that 'someone'," she explained. "Plus, I highly doubt that Beckett will be able to track us inland."

"If he does, he will have the welcome of the Amazons," assured a voice below.

Aequora and James Norrington looked on the direction of the port, where the voice had come from, and there they were; the Amazons. Karen and Leanne quickly jumped overboard and landed on the quay, to salute the warriors they had come to visit. The young Prince of Pirates tried to follow, but he couldn't. Makoto, Jack Sparrow and Arashi joined them with a millisecond of difference.

Before Norrington and Aequora decided to follow Jack Sparrow's example, Samuel spoke up. "Guys, aren't you forgetting someone?!" he called out.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry, Turner, I forgot that you were still..."

"...attached to the mast? Thanks a lot," mumbled Samuel when they delivered him from the ropes that had been tightened two days ago to prevent him from escaping his punishment.

"No problem, let's go now," Aequora retorted as she followed Karen's lead on the dock.

When he landed next to Leanne and Arashi, he immediately saw the difference between the aura that surrounded the girls he knew and these warriors. The Amazons were a fierce looking clan of women, and they were not only fierce, but also armed from head to toe. There was about six of them only, and four of them were aiming their weapons at them (he had a strange feeling they were more aiming their arsenal at him than at the girls).

The one in the center (who did not seem to be as harmful as the other ones) was wearing a golden crown on her head, laid in the middle of her deep pitch black hair tied in a ponytail. The warrior was wearing a golden armour with a red cape that floated behind her whenever it was caught in the wind. She was probably the Queen of the Amazons.

The second golden armoured one that caught his attention was the one at the Queen's left. She was a short blonde haired and had a javelin which she was aiming at Norrington. She was looking at him as if she were assessing his strength and weaknesses. He decided to nickname her the 'Queen's Left Arm'.

The third one, wearing the same armour, that he had interiorly designated as the 'Queen's Right Arm' had long fiery red hair and was in her fighting stance with a sword in her hand. She was smiling at Karen whom she had decided (possibly from the headdress) to be the leader of the crew that had been brought to them.

"Karen, of the Atlantic Ocean, I see that you have been quite busy after leaving. Welcome, we have been expecting you," started the spokeswoman, the one in the middle of the handful of women that had come to welcome them.

With a wave of the Queen's right hand, the female warriors put their weapons in their sheaths and straightened up.

"Queen Hypolia, of the Western Amazonian Clan, it has been a long time," admitted Karen, slightly bowing her head (probably because she didn't want the headdress she was wearing to fall off) as she said the Queen's name.

Was this why they had chosen to wear ceremonial clothing for the occasion; because they were visiting a Queen?

Copying her, Makoto, Norrington (who had been disciplined to respect the ones with Royal Blood), Leanne, Arashi, Sera and Aequora bowed down to the lady. Jack Sparrow simply waved at the woman while Samuel tried, doubtfully with any success, to imitate Norrington.

How did Karen know the woman's name? They had known each other before? When had they met? How was this possible, when Karen was a Pirate Lord (thus ruling over the seas), and the Queen was inside the continent, with her people? If Karen knew these people, then it meant that Leanne and the others as well...!

"I do assume you remember our rules?" inquired her Majesty.

"Come again?" the Pirate Lord that represented them asked, begging her pardon.

Samuel couldn't help but notice that Karen looked quite polite when they were in presence of the Queen.

"Your toys will have to wait at the entrance though," answered the 'Left Hand of the Queen', still smirking at Norrington.

"Toys?" whispered Samuel, surprised.

"You," briefly explained the Lookout in a low tone, not without sparing him the 'why do you even have to ask' look.

Both Arashi and Makoto seemed to share the same enthusiasm in considering him as a toy...

"Of course I remember..." answered Karen, who had been unanimously elected as their spokesperson (probably because she was the one wearing the headdress).

"Perfect, then we should be best to find Clare before she runs out of patience," concluded the Queen, turning around and entering the curtain of trees, leading the way.

"Two of our guards will keep an eye on your treasure, don't worry about that, Karen," said the 'Queen's Right Hand', as two of her subordinates stood in front of the quay.

"Thanks, Sylvia."

For a moment, they walked in silence. They were in a tight group together, and surrounded by the Queen, Hypolia, in the front, and Sylvia, the blonde girl, and another warrior.

"I'm surprised you've added a few 'modifications' to your Amazon standard, Captain Karen," decided to comment the blonde female soldier, as they escorted the new comers to the village.

So that was where Karen, Lucy, Leanne, Makoto, Sera and Arashi had come from!

That was explained Makoto's comment when they had first met.

"_Makoto's the name, and I'm warning you, you'll be the only guy in the ship. Where we come from, men bring bad luck."_

That was why where they came from, men brought bad luck; they were Amazons! But... Lucy didn't really fit the Amazon image (she didn't really fit the image of a pirate either), and she seemed too friendly with everyone (even men) to be from the Amazons. She was quite nice with him when he had first come on the ship, and the whole crew (especially Karen) was quite tolerant with Jack Sparrow. How could Karen and her friends come from the Amazon Clan that hated men and killed them when they had this kind of attitude towards their 'enemy'? If the girls had come from this woman tribe, then why had they left?

Perhaps this difference between the real Amazons and them (their different point of views on the men) was what had separated Karen's crew from the real Amazons and that this was why they had left their tribe and converted themselves as pirates! Samuel was glad he had learned something new about his crew mates, but the fact that they came from the Amazon people did not explain how their ship -- or rather, they -- had Powers that had earned them the nickname of _Sea Witch_.

But then, if these girls had come from a Amazonian Tribe, then how did it fit in the young man's theory that they had once died before, and had been resurrected by Calypso to find Davy Jones and banish Melusina once and for all?

Did any of his theories make sense? Why was it that each time he thought he had a good hypothesis regarding these girls, they proved him wrong without knowing it? Samuel shook his head, driving the other questions away from his mind.

The escort arrived in a village populated by tents, horses and women. The women were not all wearing armours, but were wearing normal clothes (for them), and were either teaching to the younger girls, either preparing food, or taking care of the horses. Some of them lifted their heads up from whatever it was they were doing and started whispering among themselves as soon as they spotted them. A woman wearing rags (he felt a painful pang when he noticed that she resembled Acerbotis in her elderly age and in her clothing) slowly walked closer to them.

At the entrance, there was a cage. Was this the place where Jack, Norrington and Samuel would have to stay, while Sera Aequora and Karen had fun with their 'sisters'? The blonde girl shoved him inside without ceremony, but she paid much attention to Norrington, who was led inside (instead of being pushed) as well. The spokeswoman closed the door to the cage.

"Wait, what about Jack!?" inquired James Norrington, puzzled.

The Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Seas looked surprised that his comrade Pirate Lord even asked such a question. "What about me?"

"The man was accepted by our clan," replied the blonde girl.

What had Jack done to be accepted by the Amazons, who hated men? The Pirate King had once used specific terms to describe Jack Sparrow in terms of women.

"_He has a tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature, or so this is what he says."_

Was that what had helped him 'tame' the women's hatred towards him when he first came here? When did he even have the time to come here?

"If you want to be accepted, I'll be your opponent," the 'Queen's Left Hand' added, raising Norrington's chin with her finger.

"Careful, I bite," he warned, in a way that did not sound like Norrington at all.

Samuel was surprised by how quickly Norrington had radically changed his personality as a commodore to a pirate. He wondered if Norrington was flirting with the female warrior because he was being sarcastic (perhaps he still hated women after what Elizabeth Swan had done to him), or because he was starting to feel confident around women again (thanks to being constantly around Karen and her women crew?).

"Good looking, feisty and brave at that," commented a smiling blonde soldier, retrieving her finger just in case Norrington really did bit her. "I'd like to see how you do at the arena," she added, interested.

"We are not here so that these men get admitted to the guest list, Samantha," interrupted Makoto before Norrington would accept the woman's challenge. She was looking at them from outside as if she was warning them not to accept a confrontation with anyone while they were gone. "Hypolia, give them the treatment you reserve to all men until we come back please."

The Queen nodded, as if she had never thought to do otherwise. Hypolia backed away for a second, leaving way for the elderly woman that had come.

"You have finally come to see me, Karen... You know I demand payment... But what's this? A new girl?" asked the old woman that had finally caught up with them, arriving to meet them, examining Aequora from head to toe. "She would make a good warrior for our tribe... especially with that hatred of men she bears within her," she noticed.

Lucy's words flashed in his mind.

"_Oh. She doesn't like men much, so she'll be staying with –"started to answer the rig master, but Arashi, the Unemotional Girl, from the main mast, coughed loudly, and she stopped. _

Suddenly, Samuel felt an unreasonable pain when he remembered that Aequora hated men -- just like the Amazons.

'_Does she hate me too?_'

He was going to say something to prevent Karen from doing a deal with the elderly Amazon (exchanging Aequora, his only real friend (or at least, he considered her as such) on the _Insert Name Here_ would be an outrage for him), but the Captain spoke up first, snatching his shipmate away from the Amazon's grasp and putting herself in front of her crew.

"The girl is not part of the payment," firmly declared Karen. "She's in my crew," the captain added, threateningly.

Samuel felt a moment of relief and internal satisfaction when the Captain said this. He did not know why, but he considered like it would be weird if someone else than their Captain (especially him) had refused Aequora to the Amazon.

"Besides, I brought a better payment," Karen added, and he saw that she was glaring at him with a smirk.

With a shudder, the young lad thought that perhaps Karen had still not forgiven him the misdeed he had committed and that she was planning on punishing him further by selling him as a slave to the Amazons. Would she dare? Had he suffered two days with only water to satisfy his thirst for nothing?

Everyone else seemed to realize this when they followed the Pirate Lord's eyes. The Prince of Pirates could not help but notice that Aequora's eyes had widened. Arashi and Makoto smiled at each other, as if they were really happy that they would get rid of him. Sera was hidden behind Sylvia, so he didn't know how she looked like at that moment. Leanne seemed to approve, or at least, that was what her smile seemed to express. James Norrington was a bit too busy avoiding the blonde girl's grin to be able to express anything. Jack Sparrow, who had so graciously saved him once from Barbossa, did not interfere this time.

'_What kind of an uncle are you?_'

"The boy?" demanded her interlocutor, chuckling. "Do you really think, after all those years living here, that we need a man's service?" she demanded.

"You could torture him however you want," offered Sera, popping her head from behind the 'Queen's Right Arm'.

"Let's talk business elsewhere," suggested Karen.

"Very well," accepted Queen Hypolia, nodding as she led the way to the biggest tent of the village.

The only one that had not followed the group was Sera, who had decided to join in the women that were preparing food. No doubt, she was going to ask them the recipe and ingredients to their most interesting meals. Makoto had decided to stay outside the tent, keeping an eye on both him and Norrington as well as guarding the tent. She gathered the girls that had just finished 'school', knelt down at their level, started whispering something and pointed at them.

"What do we do now?" mumbled Samuel, looking around.

Young girls had gotten closer and had decided to play a game (Samuel later learned at his expense) where the winner would be the one that pokes the man in the cage the hardest or something. They started to collect tree branches and started the game on Norrington. Without uncertainty, this was what Makoto had told them to do.

"I think I would rather accept the challenge at the arena," the ex-commodore answered, avoiding some of the girls' blows.

Samuel moved closer to the center of the cage, hoping none of the young Amazons would have found a tree branch big enough to reach him there.

"I think I would like that too," the young shipmate agreed. "But Makoto warned us not to... Ouch!"

"Why are we even here for? Are we not looking for the last missing Pirate Lord?" asked the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea, evading another girl's 'attack'.

"Actually, it's not as easy to find Pirate Lords when the person that was able to find them vanished," answered Samuel. "It's another one of my theories. Lucy was able to make dots appear on a map that Leanne gave her, and these dots were able to give away all the Pirate Lords' locations, even yours," he explained.

Norrington nodded. "But Lucy's gone," he completed. "So perhaps this is why they have come back here," the Pirate Lord wondered.

"What?"

Had he given away important information that would help his theories in understanding the _Insert Name Here_'s crew better? What had he said exactly? What had he missed?

Seeing the confused look on Samuel's face, Norrington asked: "Do you know the so-called origins of the Amazons?"

"No."

"The Amazons were considered, in ancient Greece, as a community of female warriors, descendents of the God of War, Ares, and a nymph, called Harmonia," the ex-commodore started to explain.

Samuel considered the irony of their 'mother's name and the Amazon's behaviour. "How can they come from a nymph that's called 'Harmonia' and be so violent?" he asked.

"The key word is Ares. He is the God of War after all, isn't he? Anyways, the last news we can have of the Amazons in History books are that their queen, Penthesilea, -- ouch! -- fought with Troy and was killed by Achilles. Those are only legends," James quickly added.

"So why does that have something to do with us being here?"

"I heard a sailor say that the Amazons, after the fall of their Queen, separated into four tribes all over the world for the four daughters of Penthesilea; the Southern Tribe apparently lives in South Pole, the Northern Tribe probably lives in North Pole, and the Eastern Tribe is said to be somewhere in South East Asia. Ouch! And this is the Western Amazonian Clan, as Karen mentioned before. The sailor told me that in each of their clans, there was a Priestess and a Queen. A Priestess is someone who is in contact with the God or Goddess she has vowed her life to. It could be a Voodoo Priestess, like Acerbotis," Norrington explained.

"So... you mean that they are going to ask the Priestess' help to find the last Pirate Lord?" resumed Samuel.

Norrington shrugged. "Ouch! Assuming Captain Karen really is going to fulfill the task Barbossa gave her. Are there other Pirate Lords on the job?" he asked.

"Well, I know that the others are trying to find Ammand the Corsair's successor, but I am not sure if we are supposed to find him," the young lad answered, wincing when one of the girls had brought a javelin in the game and had started trying to poke him with it. "Wait, but if they are going to ask her for help, then why haven't they asked that question to Acerbotis then?"

"Perhaps this is because their job was only to find Jack and me, and that they are not going to look for Ammand the Corsair's heir. Ouch! What was the question they asked Acerbotis?"

The young man was about to answer, when suddenly, the ex-commodore grabbed one of the tree branches and pulled it away from the little girl's hand before throwing it away. As soon as he did this, the girl's tutor (or mother) and Makoto herself came in front of the cage.

"You could have done this earlier, I wouldn't have had to bore myself to death over there," complained the Coxswain, smiling when Arashi joined in.

"What are you talking about?" asked Samuel, lost.

The woman bellowed. "The men have committed an offence to their hosts!"

The young lad sighed. He hadn't committed any offence, and yet, he was going to be taking part in Norrington's punishment...

'_I must be cursed or something..._' he thought.

"BRING THEM OVER TO THE ARENA!" the Amazon commanded, as the women started to gather around.

"So you've accepted my challenge," smirked Samantha, the blonde warrior emerging from the crowd and looking at the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea.

Norrington smiled. "I guess it couldn't be helped," he whispered to Samuel. "We'll have to fight at the arena anyways..." he added when the warriors opened the cage and pulled them out.

"Well, this is better than being attached on a mast all day, with nothing but water and sun burns," considered the Pirate Prince.

And then, he saw Aequora's concerned look among the crowd of women. He was suddenly and unexplainably overwhelmed with a mix of annoyance, pride and worry as well.

"And I guess I could use some little action..." he added as the warriors escorted them to the place they called 'Arena'.

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**All right. All the information on the Amazons are true (except perhaps that they have separated into four tribes, that's for the purpose of the story). Please Review (I know you're out there, people that read! At least PM me to tell me how you enjoy or don't enjoy **(or maybe just skip the 'don't enjoy' part and just tell me what you want for next part. I might actually put some of your suggestions in what I've already planned)** some parts! HELP ME IMPROVE MY WRITING! (Sorry, me being obsessed with only having two reviews when this is the '12th' part according to ))  
I hope you enjoyed. Next part will be due... next week, probably. **


	13. Chapter 12:The Amazonian Fight

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 12****: The Amazonian fight**

By CrystallicPrincess

**Oh gosh, I really worked hard on this one :P I really suck at battle scenes, so please bear with me until the end of the story, okay?  
I hope that you'll enjoy it, and I hope that you won't hate me for putting so much cliffhangers and such.  
This part was indeed longer than the other, and I hope it was worth it. Is this all...?  
Um... Yeah... I wanted to thank you guys who didn't comment but still added the story in your favorite list or story alert list (this just proves that maybe I'm getting better with writing? *looks hopeful*) **

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"You better behave yourselves at the arena," warned Karen. "Hypolia, Samantha, Clare herself, and Sylvia think that we trained you guys to fight, and believe that if their champions can beat you, then their esteem on the _Insert Name Here_ won't be as high as it once were."

How had the _Insert Name Here_ even gotten such a reputation among the Amazons? This would only work if the girls had indeed come from this women tribe. This remained only a theory among the others Samuel had found based on the little information he had collected, since no one had ever informed him of the _Insert Name Here_'s origins.

"And if this were to happen, I assure you, you will receive an exemplary punishment," threatened Makoto. "Even the piranhas and the drowning with a cannonball will be something you will wish compared to whatever we reserve you if you fail us," she added.

"I'd like to see that," commented Jack Sparrow, smiling as he was looking at James Norrington.

The ex-Commodore did not seem affected by the threat. He had probably had worse than that when he had been in training with the navy. It was also probably because he had been sleeping when Karen and the others had recalled the punishment anecdotes, and that he did not understand all of Makoto's words... but the Prince of Pirates couldn't help but worry.

'_Something worse than the piranhas eating you alive; something worse than drowning at sea with a cannonball attached to your ankle is possible?_' mentally inquired the young Samuel, but he said nothing more.

The Amazons had chosen to place the prisoners and their 'supporters' in a tent adjacent to the one that contained the arena, so that the future fighters would have the time to warm up and to familiarize themselves with the rules of the Amazonian battles. The Prince of Pirates had to admit this place was much better than a wooden cage...

"Don't go easy on them only because they are women, by the way, Norrington," added Makoto, as if she had just thought about this.

Samuel thought it was a good thing to warn the Pirate Lord. He was a disciplined man that had been trained to protect women and children, not to fight them. The ex-Commodore nodded, as if this was obvious.

"What happens if we lose?" asked Samuel.

He wasn't sure what he should do with his bag. Should he leave it in this tent, or should he leave it to someone to hold it for him? He didn't think a bag like this one would be allowed in his duel.

"What do you think will happen? You are fighting to prove your worth to the Amazons. If you dare lose, our dearest _Insert Name Here_'s reputation will be so low that we won't be welcomed here anymore," replied Karen.

"Aren't you exaggerating a little, Karen? I will still be welcomed here," said Jack Sparrow, smiling as if this was a joke that only he understood.

The Pirate Lord of the Caribbean had been inspecting the weapons that the Amazons had placed on the table in the middle of the tent. It was the only piece of furniture they had been allowed.

"I think I'd rather be chased each time I come here, than to be laughed at each time we pass by," retorted the young lady as she re-adjusted her African headdress.

"If you dare lose, your own life is not worth living according to the Amazonian laws," specified Arashi.

"Then I won't lose," firmly decided the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea, eyeing all the weapons with an expert eye.

Samuel interiorly agreed, but did he really stand a chance against the Amazon that had been trained all her life to fight?

"Are there rules to this duel?" asked Aequora, concerned.

The young man couldn't help but feel a little hurt when he heard this. Couldn't Aequora at least believe in his fighting skills when he needed her to? Did she really think that Amazons would be able to kill him?

To this last question, the Pirate Prince wasn't even sure if he could answer for sure himself. He had never killed anyone before meeting Karen and her crew (specifically speaking, he had never killed anyone before leaving his island). Samuel had never even fought a woman before (and he had never wished to even try to defeat one of his crewmates or his mother). Perhaps this was due to the fact that the girls were in part Amazons as well. He tried not to think about it.

"You are only allowed one weapon," explained Karen, as she took an Amazon-made dagger out of the lot of weapon that had been lined from little to big on the table. "So you'll have to choose carefully."

The Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean was talking as if she had already participated in one of these combats. As if the Pirate Lord was answering to Samuel's thought, Karen started slashing the air with the strange blade, testing its efficiency and fluidness.

"The duel will be held inside a circle traced on the ground. The first person to cross that circle is disqualified," added Leanne, tracing a small circle in the sand with a tree branch she had taken inside with her.

"So I'll be fighting Sylvia alone," resumed Norrington, smiling. "With only one weapon of my choice," he added. "How do they know if you're cheating or not; about bringing only one weapon in the ring?" the Pirate Lord inquired as he took a fine sword from the table.

"Ooh Trust me, Commodore, they know," answered Jack Sparrow, putting down the little knife he had been playing with.

The young shipmate chose to trust the Captain of the _Black Pearl_ on that one. The Amazons had a Priestess with them, who knew what the Amazonian Witch could do?

"Do you know who will be my opponent?" Samuel asked.

"Probably Hypolia's daughter, Penthelamia," answered Karen, smiling as she nudged the Prince of Pirates. "She seems to have some interest in you," she added. "She's been asking questions about you back there," the Pirate Lord explained.

Samuel chuckled interiorly though he had not seen this Amazonian Princess when he had watched the party enter the tent. It did not worry him that his sense of observation had once more been deceived; perhaps he had not noticed her enter the tent because of the poking contest the little girls had gotten into.

It was impossible for someone like an Amazonian Princess to be interested in him, in any kind of way...

For him only, this ought to be interesting (mainly because he was the only one that was aware of this); the Princess of the Amazons against the Pirate Prince...

Aequora nudged him when she saw that his eyes got too vague.

"Careful, Penthelamia was personally trained by her mother, so she is the most dangerous seventeen years old girl of this Clan," warned Arashi.

"She is quite serious about defeating enemies as well, just like her mother," added Leanne, shuddering as if she had remembered a fight between Penthelamia (or Hypolia) and her opponent.

Samuel started to worry. His only fighting abilities came from a few weeks of killing with Jack Sparrow and Karen's crew, and from five years of training with his mother, Elizabeth Swan. Compared to Penthelamia's combating curriculum, his seemed quite blank.

Hopefully, some miracle might occur and he would win this duel...

"What were you girls and those Amazons talking about in that tent anyways?" asked Norrington, curious.

Before anyone else could answer the ex-Commodore's question, using the swift movement of the dagger, Karen violently stabbed the table with a single blow, sinking it to its handle.

If this was a way to attract her teammates' attention, it worked, because everyone was staring at her now. But their reaction was not something Karen seemed to be looking for. She seemed angry (though not as angry as when he had let Larry get away with the mysterious pouch).

Samuel shuddered when he remembered how their Captain had looked like when she had discovered his offence. He also shivered a little when this event reminded him of the many punishments that the _Insert Name Here_'s Captain had been able to give out so graciously to each and every crew member that deceived her.

Karen was, no doubt, truly a Pirate Lord. He would remind himself never to distrust her capacity ever again... if he survived this battle that was...

"Nothing," she replied. "Someone has come here before, and has the information," the Captain of the _Insert Name Here_ answered, irritated. "That's how Hypolia knew that we would be coming... and has waited for us back at the docks."

Why was Karen so frustrated?

"On the other hand, at least Clare, the Priestess, said we didn't have to pay anything since the other visitor already paid," tried to reassure Arashi.

"Who could have gone here, and left without crossing our path?" asked Aequora. "I mean, is that possible? We are the Sea Witch after all."

"Who could have known the Amazon's existence and ask for the same question we were going to ask?" added Sera.

"I have a good idea of whom," grumbled Karen, her face still dark.

"Who could indeed beat the _Insert Name Here_ in terms of speed?" Leanne answered with a question, looking at Jack Sparrow.

She was speaking of this matter as if reaching the Amazon Clan had been a race...

...and that they had lost...

As a matter of fact, the only vessels that would have a chance in beating Karen's ship were _The Flying Dutchman_,_ The Black Pearl_,and _The Interceptor_.

It could not be the _Flying Dutchman_ since the ship was, depending on the rumours, either missing, or under Lord Cutler Beckett's command. And apparently, as Karen had said before, it was technically impossible that Beckett know the existence of the Amazons, so he would never have commanded to the _Flying Dutchman_ to scout in-land for a mythical tribe of women.

Samuel was not even sure if he should go as far as believing that his father, William Turner was still the Captain of the boat (because of the other rumours saying that Davy Jones was back).

Samuel shook his head and tried to concentrate on the matter that had first made him think of the _Flying Dutchman_. He did not wish to think that his father was missing, somewhere, and that Elizabeth Swan had gone to find him.

Did he even stand a chance in finding both of his parents again?

It could not be the _Interceptor_ either because the ship had sunk a long time ago, upon meeting Jack Sparrow's beloved _Black Pearl_. There was still the possibility that Melusina had revived the vessel (just like she had done to the _Endeavour _and the _Dauntless_), but then, the _Interceptor_ would be, just like its sisters, under Beckett's charge, and there would be the same problem as the _Dutchman_.

The only one possibility that was left was...

"The _Pearl_ could be in the list of suspects only if Barbossa knew about the Amazons' existence and had a girl onboard," retorted Jack Sparrow, standing up as he did. "Or if it had me onboard..." he added, more to himself than to the crew.

Indeed, Jack was right. Barbossa did not seem to be the type of Captain who would lead his men to the center of a continent just to seek the help of an Amazonian Priestess. He did not look like someone who would have been accepted by the women community either.

"Wait, let's re-cap a little! So basically, Clare is the Priestess of this Amazonian Clan, and she has received a visitor that has asked her whatever we were going to ask her and she refuses to answer to us because we were beaten by another ship?" resumed the Prince of Pirates, confused.

"Exactly so," answered Sera, nodding.

"But why?" demanded Samuel. "Why can't she just answer us? We made the effort to come, too! What's that question anyways?"

What question could have made Karen travel all this way to find the only woman who could answer it?

"Go figure, but that's why Karen's so frustrated," explained Makoto.

"Women, never try to understand them, it could lead you to death," the Pirate Lord, successor of Villanueva, replied, shrugging.

He was repeating himself from that other time...

"Commodore Norrington is right," tried Jack Sparrow. "You should probably concentrate on surviving this test," the Caribbean Pirate Lord added. "It's starting soon."

Samuel scanned the list of weapons that were allowed on the table and chose a handy sword that looked just like the one that he kept on the _Insert Name Here_. Norrington, after consideration, took a long sword as well.

"Who's going first?" asked the Prince of Pirates.

"We could play rock-paper-scissors to decide..." suggested Karen.

The girls were all smiling... probably another inside joke...

"The duels will be held at the same time, in different fighting circles. Don't worry, we'll cheer for you," Leanne informed, smiling.

"Let's go out now; the combats are going to start," suggested Sera.

The applause started to come from outside of the tent. All the clan was assisting to the fight between their champions and the male visitors. But instead of stopping at the middle of the Arena Tent, they exited it and stopped at the center of the village.

"Why are we out here when there was a tent we could have used to fight without the sun interfering with our sight?" asked the young man.

"Because the Amazons believe a real warrior knows to endure the climate of his combats and doesn't complain. In a real fight, you won't be able to choose your fighting location," answered Sera, smiling. "Take your time in defeating Penthelamia, I haven't gotten all the recipes I wanted to get yet."

Though it was a weird statement, Samuel chose to interpret it as her way to express her wishes of luck to him.

"Could you keep my bag for me, please, Aequora?" the young man asked, handing her his precious shoulder bag.

"Of course."

The blazing sun was at its zenith, right above their heads. The crowd had separated itself into two; one for each fighting circle. There was a woman in each ring, waiting patiently for their opponents to come. Neither of them was wearing their armour, but even without it, Samuel could feel the intense combating Auras coming from each of the circles.

The blonde one of the two Amazons, set upon the circle to the left, waved at Norrington, all excited.

"I'll see you at the end of this battle, Samuel," decided the ex-Commodore, nodding once as he joined Sylvia in the band-ring.

"Good luck," wished the young man to his comrade.

When he entered the circle himself, Samuel felt the powerful force of the Amazon standing in front of him increased by the blazing atmosphere the sun had gracefully set for him. Leanne and Makoto had left to root for Norrington, and Aequora and Karen had stayed to keep an eye on his performance. Sera was probably asking some recipe to some old Amazon that had decided not to attend the event. Jack Sparrow was seated right next to Hypolia, who had placed two thrones on a pedestal so she could watch both battles without having to stand up for a long time. Uncle Jack was eating grapes and discussing with her matters which Samuel could not hear from where he stood.

Drops of sweat started pearling on his forehead. He tried to ignore the heat and hunger as he took a mental picture of the Amazonian Princess.

Just like her mother, Queen Hypolia, Penthelamia tied her long black hair in a ponytail, which contrasted with Aequora's long golden locks his friend wore loose behind her. Another contrast between those two girls were that the Princess was wearing a skirt above pants (perhaps this was the latest fashion among Amazons) while Aequora preferred to wear pants (probably because the piece of clothing was quite helpful when running). His opponent was of an average height, not as tall as he was, but not as short as Lucy had been. As a matter of fact, she was about Aequora's size, but seemed a bit buffer (probably from the fact that she had been trained in fights since she was really young). Out of the deadly weapons the Amazon could have chosen, she had selected a sword whose form he had never seen before.

Princess Penthelamia smiled at him (not in a predator way, but in a nice way). "I will be your combatant, you may call me Penthelamia," she introduced herself. "Tell me your name, and if, at the end of this fight, I remember your name, it will be because you have proven yourself worthy of being my opponent," she suggested.

"S-Samuel Turner, pleased to meet you, Princess," the Pirate Prince presented himself.

She put on a fighting stance. "Let us see if you fit the title you bear," his assessor suggested.

As he tried to take a look at where Karen and Aequora were, he saw Clare behind his friend, nudging the sack she had so graciously accepted to keep for him. What was the Priestess up to? It was his bag! Not hers!

"Huh?"

What was she talking about? What title did he bear? Was she talking about the fact that he was the Prince of Pirates (more because his mother was the Pirate King)? If so, how did she know, when even Karen and the others didn't? Then again, how much did Karen and her friends know about him? Why would the Sea Witch vessel's Captain have revealed his identity to the Amazons?

"Focus, Samuel!" called out Aequora's voice, making him automatically snap out of the maze of questions that had suddenly filled his head.

It was just in time to avoid his adversary, who had started running towards him at an amazing speed and was trying to slice him open with her weapon. She was trying to push him to back away to the border of the circle.

"Nice try, but that won't work," he commented, placing himself in the middle of the ring.

At this point, all the Amazons around them had vanished. Even Aequora and Karen, who were cheering for him, disappeared. Jack Sparrow and the chuckling Hypolia's images faded away as well. The Prince of Pirates was in top concentration now.

"It was worth a try," the Princess remarked.

Her smile got even wider. They were circling around each other, not close enough for each other to strike, but enough so that he could see her trying to suppress the grin. Was this because she was trying to keep her serious in front of her mother?

"I believe it's my turn," Samuel started, choosing to attack her directly.

Their blades clashed together. He smiled. If he was indeed stronger than he had been since he had left the island, he should be able to push her away at this point.

But he had forgotten the fact that she was probably just as strong as he was.

"That was a nice attempt too, Man," Penthelamia whispered, when they were still close to each other, trying to push the other away.

He almost succeeded in driving her away but suddenly, she dove on the ground and kicked his ankles, making him fall on the ground.

"Hey!"

"In a fight, everyone is not expected to fight fair, right, Pirate?" the Amazon explained, still smirking.

Instead of retorting, Samuel suddenly remembered his fight back on Acerbotis' island with that young freckled Blue Coat, whom he had tripped to have the advantage of the situation. The fight had ended really quickly, thanks to the Sea Witch' Powers.

"I'll rub that smile off your face, just you see," he promised, grinning as he rolled away from the range of her sword.

"We'll just see about that."

The young woman tried to make him regret challenging her by tripping him once again, but this time, he was prepared; he jumped backwards, once again to the center of the ring, and used Penthelamia's little moment of shock to hit.

Samuel put his entire strength into his sword trying to knock the young woman's weapon from her hands. Surprisingly enough, it worked, and the Princess' blade went flying behind him, away from Penthelamia's grasp. Due to the impact of the blow, the Amazonian Princess fell on the ground, her eyes wide opened.

"Very nice one," she complimented, smirking.

"Thanks."

All of a sudden, the crowd grew a lot louder than it had been few moments ago, probably to either applaud his exploit, or cheer for their Princess to recover from her fall. Why should they bother? Penthelamia would have to use a very skilful trick against him or something.

The Pirate Prince started to worry suddenly that the Princess had indeed another trick up her sleeve.

Or was it something else that the public was applauding?

"Samuel, watch out!" called out Aequora's voice.

"Behind you, whelp!" warned Karen.

Samuel looked around him as he took Penthelamia's sword in his hands, keeping a safe distance from her as she stood up.

The crowd behind him and separated in two so he could now see what had happened to Norrington. Apparently, he had the advantage, because the ex-Commodore was the only one in the ring with a weapon, and that Sylvia was slowly backing away from him.

She was dangerously getting closer to the border of the circle. The Amazon smirked wittingly at her opponent, and jumped.

"Watch out below!" warned the Amazon, landing right next to Samuel.

"Thanks for ruining my duel, Sylvia!" mumbled Penthelamia.

"No problem, Princess."

"WHAT!??" The crowd seemed just as surprised as the Pirate Prince was.

Not letting himself taken aback too long by this, the young man placed himself as far away from the two female warriors as possible. He was the only one with two weapons, he should have the advantage. But why was he feeling uncomfortable by this?

He was out-numbered.

"Care to give me my opponent back, Samuel?" asked Norrington as he jumped next to the Prince of Pirates.

"With pleasure."

However, before they could do anything about it, the mass grew quiet. Queen Hypolia had waved the mob to silence.

"Sylvia, care to explain?" she demanded in a severe tone.

"It is not written in the rules that we cannot jump from circle to circle. They are still fighting rings."

"Clever," smiled Hypolia. "I will be sure to revise the regulations for next time then," the Amazonian Queen decided.

The Western Amazonian Clan's Queen at down and nodded the combats to continue. The circle was now divided into two fights; Samuel and Penthelamia's, and Norrington and Sylvia's. The women had no weapon, while Samuel possessed two and Norrington, one.

It seemed quite unfair.

"Here, share it," he suggested, throwing the Princess' weapon at their feet.

At the same time, Norrington had thrown his weapon away from the ring, so he could fight a fist to fist combat with his opponent. Since he was a man, he would theoretically have the advantage with strength, so a close combat would advantage him the most.

Samuel cursed himself for not having thought about it.

"Hmph, I could have beaten you even if you had two swords," the Amazonian Princess retorted, though she picked up the weapon.

"We'll see about that now, won't we?" he taunted, putting on his fighting stance.

"Do whatever you want with that child, but keep your sword away from my prey, Penthelamia," warned the Queen's Left Hand.

"The same goes for you."

Samuel stared at them in disbelief. Karen and the others were no doubt Amazons. All women seemed to enjoy consider him as an object!

Without warning, the girl charged towards him.

Again, the crowd disappeared, and he bent a knee, slashing the air with his blade. The Amazon arqued an eyebrow, as if she was wondering if this was the best he could do, as she jumped to avoid his blow. Quickly, the Prince straightened up and used all his strength to parade the sword that was aimed at his throat while Penthelamia was still in the air. The weapon flew away from her hands and somewhere in the invisible crowd as she landed on the ground right in front of him.

The Princess tried to kick him once again, but fell on the ground when she tried to avoid the blade he had directed to her.

She was at his mercy now, stuck between him and the circle's boundaries. What would she choose to do? What would he choose? Would he push her back, or should he just...

"Samuel! Finish this!" advised a voice in the crowd.

He did not wish to kill if he was not forced to...

The crowd that had somehow materialized again kept silent. What had happened to their Princess?

Next to him, Norrington was stuck wrestling with his opponent, trying to make her flinch so he could get the advantage.

The Pirate Lord was probably going to get the lead soon, because Sylvia was evidently already tired with just maintaining him at distance.

"Finish your duel already, Turner!" he said.

"Right!"

Unfortunately, when Samuel was going to make the move that would end the Princess' life, there was suddenly a gun shot. The Pirate Prince's first reaction was to look at Jack and Karen (the only known owners of a pistol), but neither of their firearms were smoking.

"It came from the docks!" rang Clare's voice among the mutters.

"What? That is impossible!" said Karen. "No one knows..." she started, but there were other gun shots coming from the quay. "Me ship!" she desperately cried out, running towards it.

Makoto took a bow in front of Hypolia. "I guess this marks our leave," the Coxswain saluted as she ran after their Captain.

"Duels dismissed, mates, let's go," called out Jack Sparrow as he imitated Arashi, Sera and Leanne, who had unsheathed their swords and had followed their Helmsmate.

His Amazon assessor got up swiftly when Samuel lowered the sword. She was smiling nicely again.

"I guess you escaped your death today. See you, Samuel Turner," greeted Princess Penthelamia, kissing his right cheek. "Promise you'll come back for our duel some other time," she whispered to his ear.

"Sure."

Next to them, Norrington had let one of Sylvia's hands go.

"I guess I'll fight you another day, Miss Sylvia," whispered ex-Commodore Norrington, smiling as he gently put his lips upon back of the hand he had kept.

Sylvia blushed (as surprising as it sounded from an Amazon such as herself) and scoffed. "Saved by the bell, huh?"

"You could say so, but remember that I would have won," replied the Pirate Lord as he exited the fighting circle after Aequora, who was dragging Samuel with her by the collar.

They easily found their way back to the wharf... but they were not alone.

There was a vessel of unknown identity right next to the _Insert Name Here_ and on-board were Blue Coats, shooting the contents of their pistols at them. Fortunately though, the East India Trading Company's boat had not have the time to anchor yet, so they were too far away from the _Insert Name Here_ to do it any harm.

Despite this, Karen was desperately trying to run on the docks and on her dearly loved ship, but for some reason, Makoto was keeping the Captain on the beach.

No Blue Coat dared coming on land. Why was this?

"Mercer! Come here if you're a man!" called out the Navigator as she prepared her sword. "Gun shots never work in these lands!" she warned.

How could Leanne see so well? She had spotted Mercer from this far! But wasn't he injured since that battle at Acerbotis'? How could he still have the nerves to come back and challenge the _Insert Name Here_'s Navigator once again? Was he a sadomasochist or something?

It was true. Strangely, the girls had been standing on the beach for some time when Samuel arrived with Aequora and Norrington, and yet, none of the gun shots had wounded any of them.

It must have been Clare's Magic.

The reason why Makoto didn't want Karen on the dock was probably because the beach was the limit the Amazonian Priestess' Protection Charm or something, and that the second Karen would step on the quay, she would be injured by one of the Blue Coat's bullets.

As if he had been waiting for this invitation to come off of the boat Beckett had given him, Mercer jumped on the beach and charged with his men.

It did not take really long for Samuel to realize that the Blue Coats out-numbered Jack, Norrington, Aequora, Karen's crew and himself.

"Are you scared?" asked Jack Sparrow, unsheathing his blade next to him.

"No."

The Prince of Pirates had survived a duel against an Amazonian Warrior (one of the most difficult battles he had had to fight in his life), a fight with his friends against Beckett's men was now more of a routine for him.

When the Blue Coats arrived at their level, Karen shouted a war cry: "WWWAAARRR!!!"

And everyone started their individual fight against the enemy. Samuel engaged a duel against the nearest soldier.

"Oh, another brat," the man noticed. "Perhaps I'll get a bonus for bringing you to Lord Beckett," he smirked as their blades clashed together.

Samuel had almost forgotten. Beckett was looking for teenage Pirates of his age!

"Maybe I'll get a bonus for bringing your head to the Amazons," retorted the young man, pushing his blade against the man's blade with all his strength.

"Or maybe I'll just kill you for the fun of it," corrected the sailor, deciding to kick the young man's ankle to make him lose balance.

Samuel fell on the soft sand and quickly rolled few steps away, avoiding the man's blade, which sank into the ground.

"Nice move, for a Blue Coat," the young man admitted.

The Pirate Prince and his opponent were face to face again, gauging each other's strength and weaknesses as they walked in circle, careful to keep away from each other's eventual attack.

"Petty moves for a brat," replied Beckett's pawn.

"I'll show you a petty move," echoed a voice behind the man.

Someone behind Samuel's opponent kicked him towards the Pirate Prince, giving Samuel the opportunity to pierce the man's body with his sword.

"Thanks..." he said to his ally, shielding his eyes from the burning sun to see who it was.

Two people seemed to have saved him.

"No problem, Samuel Turner."

"Penthelamia!" he recognized her voice.

Right next to the princess was Aequora, who was looking rather angry for a reason that he was yet to find out.

The Amazonian warrior smiled at him, and he saw behind her all the women from the clan rushing to aid Jack Sparrow, James Norrington and Karen's crew (though the girls didn't seem really happy to have their opponents taken away from them. Perhaps this was why Aequora was mad, because Penthelamia had taken away her opponent as well?).

"Did you think that you would get all the fun for yourself?" his Amazonian assessor asked, as if to explain the reason of her presence in the brawl, when she saw the shocked expression on his face.

She took an arrow out of the quiver that was behind her back and proceeded into eliminating the Blue Coats from a distance, cautious to pick the ones that were coming from the ship to aid their companions. As expected from the representative of the all-women clan, her shots were incredibly precise and he could bet that they were all aimed at the men's hearts.

Samuel decided to stay at a safe distance close to her so he could protect her from the Blue Coats she might have missed.

One of the fights that were the most expected was Leanne's duel against the injured Mercer. There was a big circle around them, as if everyone respected their will to fight each other. The disadvantage was that fighting on the sand was more difficult than fighting on the normal ground, but neither of these two fighters seemed to be affected whatsoever. They seemed at ease (even pleased) with just fighting.

"We'll take care of these minions," decided Hypolia's voice. The Queen was fighting right next to Karen and Jack Sparrow. "You go find what you've lost, Captain Karen."

How did Hypolia know that Karen had lost something? Was she talking about the pouch that Larry had taken from her cabin? Did the Queen know what was in that pouch?

"Don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves," reassured Penthelamia when Samuel looked at her. "Go, and don't forget to come back to face me later," she smiled. "Promise you won't forget me," she added.

For some reason, the young man felt his heart beat even faster. His face was probably all red right now...

"Come on, Samuel!" Aequora interrupted him in the middle of his response, dragging him to the _Insert Name Here_ at the same time as Makoto was helping Norrington onboard.

Karen was already at the helm, as Arashi and Sera armed the chase-guns.

"I'm happy Clare didn't unable the _Insert Name Here_'s ability to fight back," commented Makoto when they were all onboard.

"Me too, Makoto," the Captain of the Sea Witch's ship replied.

Jack Sparrow and James Norrington had already prepared the sails that were now catching the powerful wind (that had probably been Summoned by Clare) permitting the ship to move to Karen's will, since she was at the helm.

The cannonballs that the Cook and the Watchman had released from the cannons and directed at the enemy ship worked their way towards the boat and sank it at the first wave of shots.

"Woah!"

Samuel was surprised to see the East India Trading Company's ship be submerged so easily by a single wave of cannonballs. The _Insert Name Here_ had never been so powerful with its cannon shots before...

...or was this Clare's Magic at work again?

Karen gave the commands to Makoto and waved at the Amazons. "Have fun with the Blue Coats, Hypolia! Consider them as a gift from us to you!" she shouted.

The men that had abandoned their sinking ship were reaching the beach, where Penthelamia and her warriors were shooting them down with their effective arrows. The rare survivors would have to deal with the Queen and her deadly soldiers.

"Gee, thanks, Karen!" replied Samantha, rolling her eyes. "Come back any time, Amazons!" she added, waving back before she continued her battle with the Blue Coats that were coming towards her Majesty the Queen of the Amazons of the West.

For the first time (or was it?), Samuel was quite happy he was safe on the _Insert Name Here_'s deck. Their ship was about a meter away from the quay now, safe from the Blue Coats that might have the suicidal idea to save themselves from the women tribe by jumping on the Sea Witch's vessel.

"So... let's get out of here..." started to suggest Sera, but she was rudely interrupted.

Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched squeak coming from the beach. No doubt, this was the animal-like Navigator they had left on the land.

They had left the port and were already heading towards the exit of the river! How could Leanne catch up with them now? Was Makoto going to put a stop to the _Insert Name Here_ to wait for their Navigator?

They all rushed on the deck to see what had happened. Fleeing on the back of a giant flying black snake (since when had it grown this big?) was Mercer, and on the beach, staring at her powerless fist, was Leanne.

And their friend had let him get away once more... She seemed quite frustrated by this.

"LEANNE GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE, OR ELSE...!" warned the Coxswain.

Beckett's man soon disappeared in the sky.

How could she catch up with them now? They were about a meter and a half away from the docks! Not paying attention to this detail, their Navigator quickly ran on the docks and without hesitation, jumped onboard of the departing ship.

"It was about time, Leanne!" said Makoto, sighing.

"It was a nice fight, all the same," she commented, as if trying to convince herself that she would rather have Mercer alive so she could still have nice fights with him than dead.

"We're out of here," announced Arashi when they finally reached the sea.

Now that they were out of danger, Samuel's services on deck were no longer needed, so he decided to stay at the stern, staring at the piece of land where they had been able to rest for a while.

"So where are we heading?" asked James Norrington.

Samuel closed his eyes and pictured a place without Beckett's presence much. Hopefully, Karen would choose something peaceful to do...

Suddenly, he was hit by an unknown flying object.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

His bag (what had hit him) was lying on the stern, next to him.

"Snap out of it, sea-weak brain," mumbled Aequora. Clearly, she had been the one throwing it at him. "Listen to what she's going to say, or else, you might regret asking the question a second time," she warned in a cold voice.

Why was she all bitter with him all of a sudden? Had he done something wrong?

Karen smiled when she got everyone's attention (or when she saw that Samuel had been hurt). "We are going to get what I lost back," she decided. "To Port Royal, mateys," the Captain announced.

"Leanne, take your map and tell me where we're headed," commanded Makoto as Karen, her job done, returned to her original job (counting her coins) in her cabin.

Jack Sparrow and James Norrington carried on with helping the Navigator out with her map.

Aequora, after, for some reason sighing, had left the Pirate Prince's side to join Arashi up there on the crow's nest.

Samuel continued looking at the island they had finally gotten out of, caressing his right cheek day-dreamingly.

...Indeed, the Amazons had been worth it...

* * *

**Haha, the last line is from two parts ago... (if anyone's noticed?)  
Yeah, I apologize for putting Elizabeth and Will's name in the characters that I had to put for this story.  
Indeed, they will appear...  
...just... not now...? **

**As usual, please comment.  
**


	14. Chapter 13: Aequora’s thanks 1

**The Purple Moon**

**Chapter 13: Aequora's thanks ****1 **

By CrystallicPrincess

**This week, I have good news (you've probably already noticed/saw it in your inbox) and bad news (who am I kidding? Are there even people that keep that much up to date with this serie? How do I know? NO ONE reviews! (well, that doesn't matter anyways)). I'm going to start with the bad news: I am not going to update anywhere soon (once per month if you are lucky) because school is starting for me next week, and I have to concentrate really hard on my studies (because I'm a nit-wit, I know). So the good news is: because I'm not going to update soon, I decided to post two chapters this week). **

**So I hope you'll mostly all enjoy this part. I'd also like to thank (if I have not already done so) the people who have PMed me to tell me what I needed to improve, the people who have faved/added Purple Moon to their Story Alert List at the very least), and the people who have reviewed. (haha, this looks like I'm leaving forever or something, so Imma stop here and let you FINALLY enjoy this chapter). **

* * *

"Why is it that I have to come back here again?" asked Samuel. "Couldn't Karen go alone?" he asked. "You said so yourself, she can fight. Why bring us along?" he asked.

"Because she can't search on all the ships by herself," answered a cold and hushed voice behind him. "Sera, Leanne, Arashi and she take one ship, we get to share the last one, while Makoto stays on the ship, with Norrington and Jack, they will come here to fetch us later, as soon as we're done incapacitating the ships," she resumed.

Technically, since they had anchored the ships at Port Royal, most of the sailors had gone home, or to the headquarters to spend the night, convinced that no pirate would dare attack them in their own headquarters (evidently, none of them did not know Karen, or had never heard of the Sea Witch's crew). Some of them soldiers had been positioned to keep an eye on each ship, but that was all. They wouldn't have trouble with their tasks.

...Of course, this was 'technically'...

"Karen chose to get the _Endeavour_, and we're to follow her and help her make a diversion. As the soldiers try to catch her, we make a run on the _Erased_, and sabotage the ship and its crew while the others do the same thing for their chosen ships. Simple," Aequora commented.

By taking on everyone (theoretically, only the guards that were supposed to be on guard that night) that was going to run towards the _Endeavour_, the most important ship on the quay, Karen was going to provide them enough time so that they could search and salvage the other ships without being interrupted.

...Again, this was 'theoretically'...

"So we're sabotaging these East India Trading Company ships because they are the most powerful ones that Company has and are dangerous for the purpose of the Pirates?"

Also because Makoto and Karen insisted on getting their revenge on Lord Cutler Beckett for an episode that they had omitted to tell their other mates, but he did not add this to his question.

"Aye. You understood at least that much," his friend said, rolling her eyes.

Why was she so mean with him nowadays? His shipmate even went to seem to dislike the fact that she had to share the sabotage of a ship with him! What had he done to her ever since they had gone to the Amazons? Had she remembered her hatred for men and had realized that he was one of her 'enemies'?

"But it doesn't make sense though, how can Karen take on every single one of them? They are well-trained soldiers, they out-number her, and she's just... Karen," he objected.

"She's the Captain, give her some credit," his shipmate answered. "Shh... we're here," she announced, when they stopped in front of the door of the captain's cabin. "Go in with her," she commanded. "I'll stay here and keep watch," she added to his silent question and pushed him inside.

Beckett's ship; the _Endeavour_ was hard to miss with its 106 cannons. It was around 200 feet long, and it was the type of ship that they called a 'ship of the line'. There were indeed a lot of weight on the ship, because of the cannons, but the ships of the line were specially designed by the navy so it could carry the most powerful and heaviest guns. It was said that the _Endeavour_, the symbol of Lord Beckett's flagship and of the Crown's power, was the most imposing naval vessel on the sea.

The cabin in which they had entered was indeed amazing. Beckett had expansive quarters on the ship the King had provided him with. In the dark, enlightened by the moon's rays, Samuel could only see the furniture adorning this room vaguely. He thought he could see a large globe next to him, and a map of the world to the wall.

Karen lit a lantern, which provided them a bit more of light so she could look for whatever she had come to look for. There were books stacked into neat piles a bit everywhere. Samuel touched the golden letters of an Atlas next to him. There was another book next to it. A book that seemed like it had been recently used. He could read its title.

_**Recordings, by Lord Cutler Beckett. **_

Was it a book Beckett used to record the pirates he had caught? Samuel made sure that Karen wasn't looking and put it in the pocket of his cloak (fortunately, Karen had lent him one of their cloaks so he could not be recognized by the Blue Coats).

If Beckett had caught Elizabeth Swan and executed her, he might have written it down here... The Pirate Prince had to check it out...!

"Start searching, brainless whelp! You saw how it looked like when that freak took it away from me," the Captain ordered in a hushed whispered tone.

Everything was quiet in the cabin. Beckett's ship was quite tidy and well-furnished, as expected from the man that his mother had so often described to him. Karen was already rummaging through the drawers and looking through the maps and the shelves. She was looking for something whose shape was unknown to him. Suddenly, the curtains next to her moved.

"What are you looking for?" asked the shadow, to whom Karen was already pointing her gun at.

How did the Captain know that the shadow was there already? She had already drawn her pistol and was aiming it at the stranger almost at the same time as he had spoken.

The man didn't look surprised, or panicked when he found pirates in his study at all, and almost smiled as if he wondered what had took them so long. He did not do any movement to unsheathe a weapon or anything to protect himself. Instead, he drew closer to the Captain; as if he knew that it was what Karen wanted. He stopped a few meters from them, enough for the young man to detail him closely.

Lord Cutler Beckett had not changed at all since their last encounter, though he did seem a lot more tired than before. Did he lack sleep over something? Was this due to the fact that Mercer was not by his side anymore? Or was this because he was worried about something? What could worry such an ambitious man that didn't feel guilt whenever he killed innocent people?

"I have questions. You are going to listen and answer," she decided, threateningly as she slowly walked closer to the new-comer.

"I'm listening."

The _Insert Name Here_'s Captain pulled the safety lever down, removing it as she pointed it at the East India Company's Chairman's face. The pistol made a very hostile clicking sound.

"I'm listening _intently_," insisted Lord Beckett. "What can I do for you, Captain Karen?" he asked.

Samuel couldn't help but grin when seeing this situation. His mother had told him of an event similar to this, when she had been looking for documents that would declare that his parents would be free from the charges of helping Jack Sparrow escape from his death.

Karen's smile was revealed when she un-hood herself, surprising the Pirate Prince. Hadn't Makoto specifically told them not to remove their hoods? How could they go undercover the next time they came to Port Royal? She seemed to ignore his quiet disapproval, and continued.

"You remember, what a good boy," his Captain commented, though she didn't remove the aim she had on their enemy. "You look pale, Beckett. Have a seat, please, make yourself at home, it's your ship after all," she added, pointing his chair.

The man obeyed, sending Karen one of his glares. The Captain motioned Samuel to tie him up with the ropes that had been laid on the chair next to him. As he obeyed, Beckett smiled as well.

"Who's this, the girl that Mercer was not able to catch back on Pelegostos Island?" he asked. "Did you work your miracles again and revive her?" he added.

Samuel decided un-hood himself as well, irritated by the mocking tone of the Governor when he spoke of Lucy's memory.

"Oh, Mister Turner, so you've decided to ally yourself to the all-mighty Captain Karen, of the Sea Witch Ship?"

The Pirate Prince chose not to answer.

"Where is the snake?" the young lady pirate paid no attention to the question, whereas Samuel stopped for a second, looking at the man.

"She had other business to attend to," their prisoner answered.

The gun was suddenly pressed (with exaggerated force, perhaps) to his cheek.

"Don't you fear death after what you 'lived' in the other world, Beckett?" the Pirate Lord asked, smiling when these lines reminded her of Davy Jones' infamous sayings.

"To Tortuga," Lord Cutler Beckett added quickly, turning his head from the cannon of Karen's weapon. "I don't know what she is up to," he added.

"It's a good thing you told me, I never would have guessed... As for my 'business' here, I believe you took something from me the last time we met, Beckett. I want it back," claimed the _Insert Name Here_'s Captain, very seriously.

"If you are attempting to claim it, then you must have something to trade, Captain Karen," Beckett calmly answered, smiling.

"I have paid my share of trades and payments for today," the Captain mumbled, rather unhappy that he reminded her. "Besides, do you really think you are in any authority to say that? Mercer is not here to threaten us, and that nasty snake of yours also left your side. You are just powerless under our 'spell' aren't you?" the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean chuckled in her choice of words.

The Governor chose not to answer, and so, the girl continued.

"Send our regards to your Goddess while you're at it, Cutler Beckett," Karen added, backing away. "Of course, this is nothing personal, Beckett," she started.

"...it's just business," agreed the man by completing her sentence.

"I'm glad we've come to a state of understanding," the young female Pirate Lord expressed, as she took out a dirty flag that she had found on the pile of things Beckett had collected from the Pirates he had sentenced to death and gagged their prisoner's mouth with it.

"And this is for the pirates you've murdered," muttered Samuel, knocking the Chairman out with a thick atlas he had taken from the man's desk. "Especially Lucy and Acerbotis," he remembered to add, but Beckett was probably already unconscious.

Karen continued rummaging through their enemy's books and things while Samuel disarmed Beckett from all the things he could use to free himself. The Pirate Prince took away the man's short-barrelled pistol, which the man kept in a special compartment in the inside layer of his frock clothing, and his cutlass.

"Ah-hah! I found it!" announced the Captain, raison the little pouch of lead whose presence she had discovered in Beckett's jacket. Without doubt, it probably contained the unknown treasure they had been sent to find.

"Ring the alarm, Samuel, and you're out of here," she dismissed him as she left the cabin, putting the little pouch into her travelling bag.

Samuel nodded to himself as he followed her out. "INTRUDER! THERE'S AN INTRUDER ON THE _ENDEAVOUR_!" he shouted, ringing the alarm.

"Come on, we're out of here," whispered Aequora, dragging him over to the docks.

"INTRUDER!" cried other voices from the ship as they silently ran along the port, on the opposite direction, looking for the ship they had been assigned to incapacitate.

From where they were, they could see their hooded Captain. She had decided to show herself to Beckett, but had preferred to obey Makoto's orders when fighting her enemies... Karen was well lit up under the radiance of the torches seldom Blue Coats had brought with them.

The two young pirates could also hear the Pirate Lord scream: "SO THIS IS THE MIGHTY _ENDEAVOOUR_ I'VE HEARD ABOUT! NOT MUCH OF A SHIP, IS SHE? COME 'N GET IT, MATEYS!" she bellowed.

There were about ten vessels on the port. The ones that Makoto had told them to target were the _HMS Success_, the _HMS Phoenix_, the _HMS Erased_, and the _HMS Endeavour_. All of them, except in the _Endeavour_'s case, were Royal Navy ship of the line that had been transferred to serve the East India Trading Company. Except for that, the only other ships whose existence was known to Samuel was the _Dauntless_, Norrington's ship before it had been annihilated by a tornado (Norrington had made the foolish decision of following Jack Sparrow into it before) and the _HMS Interceptor_. He had heard Mr. Gibbs say that the _Dauntless_, once the power in these waters, could not even match the _Interceptor_ for speed.

Melusina had probably revived both the ships just as she had revived the _Endeavour_.

The _Success_ was the one painted with pitch black and pure white flooring and where every spot of her hull was covered with chase guns. It was rumoured that the East India Trading Company had never lost to a Pirate in any battle with her. Indeed, a dangerous ship that could be useful to the pirates... and this was why this target was decided to be commandeered by Jack Sparrow when they would rid it from its residing Blue Coats.

The _Phoenix_ had four masts as well, but what made her special and dangerous were her cannons, forged in London, of the highest quality of steel. It was said that she could almost aim a vessel as soon as she spied it. Somehow, Makoto had decided not to grant Norrington with neither of these ships and had chosen to order its complete destruction. She did not wish cannons likes these on either side of the battle, apparently.

The _Diamond_'s crew had received orders from Beckett to hunt down all pirates in the Caribbean. Apparently, Jack and Norrington had decided to put it on the list of targets because it would slow down Beckett's hunt for pirates and it would buy them some time for the Brethren Court gathering.

As for the _Erased_, it was a newly branded East India Trading Company ship, and was rumoured to be made especially to be the counterpart of the Sea Witch's ship. Not taking any chance, and not wanting any competitor for her beloved ship, Karen had demanded its complete obliteration as well.

Apparently, as Makoto explained, if they were the ones that ruined the ships (with the exception for the _Dauntless _and the _Endeavour_), Melusina would not be able to revive neither of them and they would be safe from the threats.

As they passed the other ships, they noticed the other girls were in the same situation as their Captain.

How could it be? Theoretically, no soldiers other than the guards were supposed to be there. Someone probably ratted them out, or had Beckett planned this a long time ago?

Samuel knew that Leanne was enjoying herself, as she always was when she was in a fight. She had chosen to pick on the _Phoenix_. He had already seen her fighting style, though it was unfamiliar to him, it didn't bother him, but he was surprised to see Sera and Arashi actually fight (it was one of his first times seeing them in a combat).

"Were you guys okay in there? I heard voices," asked Aequora, suddenly worried.

The Pirate Prince remained silent, debating interiorly whether to tell her or not. Since when did she concern herself about him anymore?

"Yeah, we just met Beckett."

Nothing that would be of concern to her anyways, was it?

As he asked himself this question interiorly, the Prince of Pirates remarked that Arashi's fighting stance slightly differed from standing still. From where he was, the young man was not sure if the _Insert Name Here_'s Lookout was wielding her weapon and was not able to describe it, but he could see that the Watchman only used a single slash from the weapon. At each of her blow, the line of soldiers in front of her fell, dead. Makoto had appointed her to extinguish the 'Blue Coat flies' from the _Success_ so they could steal it afterwards.

'_Impressive_,' he mentally commented, noting that he would never doubt her presence on the Sea Witch's ship ever again.

Aequora let out an angered sigh when she heard his answer, and kicked a rock that was in her way. "I should have been in there then," she commented, almost in a regretful tone.

The sigh had been enough to catch his attention. For some reason, he could not be angry at his friends for long... "Why? You wanted to see Beckett?"

What business did she have with Beckett anyways?

"Yes. I swore I would kill him when I see him," she answered, bluntly.

"Why?"

He saw her weight the wrong and right words of her answer, biting her inferior lip as she did so, and decided not to disturb her.

From what he could see, the cook's fighting style was far more violent. The _Insert Name Here_'s Cook whirled on herself on the _Diamond_'s deck; not bothering to wait for the others to strike, and either had a 'rally' of clashing blades, with the ones that stood in her way, and wacked the ones around her on the head with what she called a frying pan.

"Because he tricked and killed my mother." Her voice had a little edge to it when she said this, as if she was restraining the tears.

Samuel gasped. This was the first time that Aequora ever mentioned her family background. It seemed too painful for her to talk about it anymore, so he chose not to insist. But how would Beckett trick her mother? Why would he do this? Was she a Pirate as well as her daughter? He seemed to be lost in his maze of thoughts once more when she spoke again, her voice clear as if the tears had faded away.

"This is it, Samuel," Aequora whispered as the soldiers that guarded the _Erased_'s deck were busy staring at the battles on the other ships, letting their guards down for that moment.

This was the Aequora he knew again.

They seemed confident that their comrades would be able to hold the intruders off. Samuel couldn't wait to fight either. They heaved themselves on the dark deck, and the sentinels rang the alarm as they unsheathe their swords. Almost immediately, they were surrounded, out-numbered by the Blue Coats, who were smiling when they saw the intruders were merely children.

Aequora placed herself to his back as he readied pistol and sword. "I got your back covered," she added, whispering. "Won't you come and taste the sound of defeat, Blue Coats?" she taunted, smiling.

In a single instant, all of their enemies attacked in unison. Samuel blocked the first one's blade, evaded the second one's blow and fired his pistol to the third one. The Pirate Prince pushed the first one on another attacker's blade (this technique saved him the time to finish off the enemy himself, and used up at least that attacker's time) and engaged into another fight.

Aequora was like his shadow; she didn't lose him for any second and protected herself with great skills as well, fending off her enemies with quick strides, compensating for her lack of strength against her adversaries.

They moved closer to the center mast, avoiding attacks without letting the blows get to their ally.

"Samuel, the crow's nest!" the ally quickly noticed, and, with his nod, they both separated, climbing up the rope ladders that led up to the crow's nest, the highest point of lookout on the mast.

Because they had anchored at the docks, there was no need of a lookout, so when they both arrived, there was no one in the crow's nest to fight. From there, they could fight enemies one by one (since there were only two rope ladders and not enough space on them for all of their enemies) with the advantage of height to balance out the difference between their experiences and their opponents'. The soldiers followed them, eager to finish these twerps up, but fell under the kids' trap and dropped on their partners' swords almost as quickly. Some other soldiers had chosen to stay on deck and prepare to shoot them with their pistols.

When no other Blue Coat dared venture on the ropes to get to them, the ones that were prepared to shoot started.

"Aequora, duck," Samuel warned, dragging her on the floor with him.

"If we make it out of here alive, remind me to thank you," she said, "also remind me for that time in Acerbotis' place's fight," his shipmate added.

What kind of thanks would he receive? Another hit on the head with his own bag (fortunately, he had left it in Karen's cabin; she could not 'thank' him that way now)?

"I don't think now is the right time to think about that, we're not done for just yet," replied the Pirate Prince, taking his pistol. "We still have a mission to fulfill, remember?" he asked, as he emptied the gun's barrel.

"I know, take my pistol -- give it back later though -- and defend the nest, I'll get to the deck and I'll finish them off in a duel. You can come down if you feel brave enough. Keep them busy until I'm ready first," she added.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" asked the young man.

The young girl answered with taking one of the ropes that dangled from the nest to the deck. "Just hold them off, and don't worry about me, I think I'm bulletproof or something. No bullet has ever managed to get to me," she added, putting a proud fist on her chest, smiling as she avoided another wave of bullets.

Yep, his Aequora was back...

"All right, I'll keep them busy," he agreed, as he used her gun with his to punish more Blue Coats for coming to ruin his first ship salvage.

"Thanks, Samuel."

His shipmate slid down the pole, invisible in the night from their enemies, and quickly jumped on the dock. The Blue Coats, just as she had predicted, were too concentrated into shooting him down to notice her. From the crow's nest, the young man could see the young female pirate jump back on the ship, but behind the soldiers, unnoticed. He ducked, avoiding another string of bullets. From up there, he could also see that Leanne had already put the ship she was keeping, the _Phoenix_, into flames already.

His heart paced even faster than it had ever pumped. Was he scared? Was he panicked?

They were running out of times. They were supposed to finish sabotaging this ship at the same time as the others so they could leave at the same time on the _Black Pearl_'s twin sister.

The young man then tried to calm down and spotted the torch that the opponents had used to light their way to the ship placed behind the gathering.

Samuel watched as she crept behind the men and, using her sword, slid numerous throats before the Blue Coats finally realized that their number had been reduced by both the young pirates. Deciding that the girl's threat was much more important than the young man's (who had run out of bullets anyways), the opponents turned themselves to Aequora, surrounding her.

"Hey! Pick on somebody your own size!" The Pirate Prince quickly grabbed the same rope that his friend had used and smoothly proceeded to landing right in the middle of it all, behind the young woman. "I got your back this time," he added in a whisper.

"It sure took you some time, Samuel Turner," Aequora replied with a smile that she was not able to refrain, as she moved to attack.

"Move towards the cabin," the young man whispered.

The young female pirate nodded quickly, and started to diverge her kill towards the direction he had pointed. Appointed as her shadow this time, he was the one to follow her around, killing and protecting her from the back. For some reason however, Samuel's wielding arm was soar or something, because he felt like he was using too much energy just holding it. The young man however just bit his lip whenever it pained him.

...He was tired, probably. His muscles ached for freedom and rest.

Eventually, they got to the torch, and the young man took it in his hands, and threw it to the corpses that were lying on the floor. Their cloths were soon burned and fed the fire so that the deck was set to flames as well.

"Quick, Aequora!" he called out, kicking the nearest Blue Coat into the flames as well.

The inferno was gaining on them at an amazing speed. Would they make it on time?

"Let's get out of here, follow me," she suggested, taking his hand in hers and starting to run towards the front of the ship.

"Wrong way! The docks are the other way!" he remarked, as the Blue Coats all jumped off board, on the quay.

"Only if we were going to the docks. Do you want to face Beckett and his men?!" she asked, and they reached the only spot that had not been touched by the destructive burning yet.

The Sea Witch's ship was there, waiting for them. There was just enough space between the two vessels so that they could jump, but the distance between the two was stretching as the _Insert Name Here_ left Port Royal. Aequora hopped with an ease that confounded Samuel's fatigued eyes onboard.

"Just jump, Samuel!" she called out, stretching her hand to catch him if he failed to reach the deck.

The young Prince of Pirates hesitated. Would he be able to gain that much distance when his whole body was urging him to stop moving, to lie down and sleep? Would he let the blaze catch up with him and die or jump, risk to drown (he doubted he had enough energy to even swim) and suffer from Karen and her crew?

If he died now, would he find _him_ again? Would he ever see his parents again?

"JUMP ALREADY BRAINLESS KID, YOU DON'T WANT ME TO COME AND FETCH YOU!" screamed Karen.

A command (or warning, however you overlooked it) that was not discussable.

The Pirate Prince did not take the time to wonder why Karen decided that she wanted him on her ship so much, obeyed, and leaped off of the almost burnt down _Erased_. He was almost going to make it...

Samuel's muscles had probably not provided enough momentum to propel him on the deck... because he started losing altitude and was about to take a grip on the deck's ramp, but Aequora took his hand and pulled him onboard.

They rolled on the deck. He wanted to stay lying there, close his eyes and hibernate until they find another mission.

"Get off of me, Sea-weak brain!" she said, pushing him aside so she could get up.

What had happened to her 'thanks'?

"Sorry about that," he mumbled.

The young lad felt like his face was burning. He was probably red since he discovered that he was on top of her. Aequora must have punched him as she got up, because suddenly, his arm felt really weak, and he had to stay lying there on the deck for a second, before Karen kicked him up.

When the young lad finally straightened up, he saw that Jack, Norrington and Arashi had gone on the _Success_ and were sailing right next to their ship. Aequora automatically hauled herself on the ship's crow's nest, taking over Arashi's responsibility.

"So where are we off to now that this is done, Captain Karen?" shouted Captain Sparrow from the _Success_'s helm.

"Just follow us," answered the Coxwain, on the stern. "Samuel, ready the cannons, just in case they catch up with the _Interceptor_," she ordered.

Leanne took out a chart of the area and started studying it, lit by a torch. "Let's just get out of their range before we decide to go anywhere," the Navigator decided.

Sera was probably in her 'kitchen', preparing them something good to eat. He was unreasonably hungry.

"Salvaging boats sure demands lots of energy. I'll go ask our Cook if she finished supper," decided Karen, as the Captain prepared to descend to the lower level of the deck and join Sera.

"No you don't. You keep an eye on your beloved Jack Sparrow. If he flees with the _Success_, I kill you," promised the Helmsmate. "And help Samuel with the chase guns," she added.

"Have you e'er seen that before; a captain being ordered around by her first mate?" observed the female Pirate Lord, taking a bottle of rum out of her pocket and starting to do as she was told by the Coxswain nevertheless.

"Nope, but that's because I've never met Makoto," answered the young man.

"What are you, dense? I can hear you, you know?!" Makoto threatened. "Don't make me come over there and shut you both in the brig," she added.

Yes, the Coxswain was indeed in a pretty bad mood, ever since she had not been allowed to take part of the riot they were going to cause at Port Royal. Karen had said it was necessary that she doesn't leave the ship, since she was the only one that could keep an eye on both Jack Sparrow and James Norrington (though James would make no attempt to escape, compared to his fellow Pirate Lord).

When they were finally out of reach, the Helmsmate commanded the Captain, Aequora the new temporary Lookout, and the young lad to un-arm the cannons and to clean them.

"After, you can go back to sleep," the Coxswain added to the three of them.

"Finally!" exclaimed the Captain.

When they finished their final task of the night, Samuel let himself slide on the deck; his back leaned on one of the chase gun's support. The young man's breathing had irrationally gotten faster. He hated to admit it, but somehow, he was tired beyond exhaustion. He closed his eyes for a second.

It took him seconds to open his eyes and notice that Aequora's feet were right next to him, that she had knelt down to face him.

"W-what do you want?" he asked, not even bothering to take a look at her face.

His vision was getting too blurry to even see clearly anyways, and his head was even too heavy to lift up.

Was she going to thank him now? Had she taken his bag out of the Captain's cabin and was about to hit him when he wasn't even able to move a muscle?

"Let him be, if he drools on the cannons or on the floor, he'll have to mope anyways," commented Karen. "I'll be in my cabin if you need me, guys," she added, closing the door behind her.

This was good, if she gave him the permission to sleep on the deck. The others would leave him alone... hopefully... The Pirate Prince's breathing got a little faster as he closed his eyes and tried to calm it down. He drifted into unconsciousness.

"God, Samuel! You are bleeding!" rang Aequora's voice in the darkness.

The young man was not able to lift an eyelid to this.

He was not able to make the sense out of the sentence she had just made.

"There were gun shots on the _Erased_. It was impossible that neither of you got out of there unhurt unless you are truly part of the _Insert Name Here_," remarked Leanne's voice.

Samuel tried to mouth them to keep it low. He was trying to sleep.

Was he going to join Lucy and Acerbotis now? In a sense, Samuel kind of hoped so.

"Bugger, the only **Healer** we had was Lucy, and she's gone," whispered Leanne.

Lucy, a Healer?

"What are we going to do now that the lad's hurt?" asked Makoto.

Did Makoto care? The young man was aware of her shadow move around him. She had left her precious helm to see his wound?

Was he even really wounded?

No... He was just... tired...

"I know," answered Karen's voice.

He felt himself being moved. Had they decided to drop him into the ocean now that he was useless?

'_Good_,' the young man thought, smiling.

"Samuel, stay with us!" commanded Aequora's far away voice.

**But it was too late, Samuel Turner was gone, had drifted into another level of unconsciousness****, into another level of reality. **

"**Samuel, hang in there, I am coming!" Lucy's voice started to echo in his head. **

'_**But you're dead...**_**' he tried to say, attempting to open his eyes to see her. **

**...and failed... **

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**It would have been a nice cliffhanger right there, would it be? But like... I am going to post another chapter after this, so... too bad for the writer, I guess? **

**Thanks again for reading all of this till the end! **


	15. Chapter 14:HisEldoradohisNorthern Star

**The Purple Moon**

**Chapter ****14: His Eldorado; his Northern Star **

By CrystallicPrincess

**Apologizes, I meant to post this earlier, but... it was too much...! I couldn't resist! I wondered if I should not post this a day later (you know, at least put a bit of cliffhanger in your minds for a day?) hahaha! **

**Yeah, I left you all asking yourselves if there actually is a continuance to this story, since the main character died. Is he really the main character? Is he really dead? Well, I'm not sure either, but this part is VERY important, so I hope that you're going to enjoy it and pay attention to all the little things written in this chapter (if it is not already your habit to do so)! Woah! I feel like a very overprotective author when I say this (I also wanted to add that you should review/PM, but I guess since you never did before, you never will haha, at least stick till the end of this story, maybe you'll review at the GRAND FINALE that I prepared mwhahahaha) **

**I hope you'll enjoy! **

* * *

When Samuel tried to open his eyes again, he succeeded, but had to close them almost at once. It was too bright, too white for his eyes full of slumber to bear. He was too weak to even move his body, to stand up, or to rub his eyes. However, the young lad could hear voices echoing around him.

"I'm really sorry, I couldn't help it. I couldn't let him lose hope and die," the voice echoed.

Where was he exactly? Why could he not pinpoint the person whose voice this belonged to exactly?

The interlocutor's response was inaudible, but the girl seemed to have interrupted it. "I'm afraid that I'm too attuned to him to be able to stop. Don't get jealous," she added.

But then, there was a melody, a very familiar air similar to one of those songs that his mother used to sing to him, that she hummed to calm to person down that also reassured him down, and, having kept his eyes closed, he drifted into another dream.

He tried to remember who he was, what had been the major events in his life so far and why he felt like his arm was going to be ripped off of his body.

He was Samuel Turner, now the only son of Elizabeth Swan, the Pirate Lord and King, and of William Turner, the successor of Davy Jones. The Pirate Prince had been living in solitude for so long... Right now, in Samuel's mind when he reckoned this part of his life, there was nothing but darkness.

And then, suddenly, there was pure brightness. He met Karen and her crew back there on Tortuga, and thanks to them, he met Aequora and the Princess of the Amazons...

After that, he could not remember... He saw the faint images of a fight, where he and Aequora would be fighting together against the Blue Coats.

...Aequora...

The last image he had back when he was conscious was Aequora's worried face telling him to hang on...

Again, when the Pirate Prince (or what was left of him) opened his eyes, it was too bright at first for him to see anything.

"Oh, he's awake!" said a voice.

It was the girl from the other dream!

He rubbed his eyes. This time, he was able to move! "Am I dead?" he asked, when he saw who was staring at him closely.

"No, silly!" answered the voice he had heard before.

"But Aequora did say that I had been shot!" Samuel protested.

"No, you are not dead, Samuel Turner," answered the woman next to the girl. "Yet."

"Then why? Aren't you supposed to be dead? Both of you?" asked the young man, pointing at the two females that were sitting on the chairs in front of him.

Lucy looked a bit hurt. "Try not to refer to our death, please, Samuel."

"We, dead, have ways to communicate with living," Acerbotis added, chuckling as she leaned towards Lucy, to tell her something.

"This is... a dream..."

So they were both dead, and were trying to communicate with him... through a dream... Samuel accepted this new fact, and stared at his surroundings. If this was Acerbotis, he was not surprised. If this was a dream, he thought he could have been a little bit more creative... They were in his house, the house he shared with Elizabeth Swan and...

Acerbotis had not changed since the last time he had seen her, if it was the little fact that her eyes gleamed lucidly, compared to her last moment. She was sitting on a rocking chair right next to Lucy, who had not changed at all either, and she was sitting on the lap of the man he knew was Simon.

What was the Pirate Lord doing here?! Sitting on the ground right in front of the two women and French Captain were the Pirate Lords Xavier, Pan, Karen, James Norrington and Jack Sparrow. Where were the rest of the Lords of the Sea? With them were seated Aequora, Sera, Arashi, Makoto and Leanne. They seemed like they had been waiting for him or something.

"Sit down already, Mate!" insisted Karen, pulling him down.

"What am I doing here?" he asked.

"This is a dream, but there is also a message I wished to convey to you," Lucy informed them. "And after that, Samuel, I need to talk to you before you go," she added, seriously.

"What is that story about?" asked her 'twin', Leanne.

"It's a story that will help you with what lies ahead," Acerbotis answered.

"Storytelling, that's the best job for Lucy," commented Jack Sparrow.

"Begin, Lucy," ordered Makoto, sending them a warning look.

What remained of the Rig-Master closed her eyes, inhaled and started. When she spoke, the words and her thoughts merged into images in front of them, as if they could really see the story she was telling them.

...This was indeed a dream...

"_A long, long time ago, there was a young Lord, who didn't have a Queen. He hadn't found true love and was forced to marry a woman he didn't love, unless he decided to marry another maiden before a certain deadline. This Lord searched far and wide, all over his country, but found no lady that suited him. _

_She was like his Eldorado if you thought about it. _

_Finally, the day of the deadline was coming soon, and he decided to take a walk, alone, around his castle. _

_He was rather sad that his days as single would end soon, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a striking voice singing. _

_Thinking that only a beautiful maiden would suit such a lovely singing, the young Lord rushed towards the direction of the voice. He was following the voice just like the sailors followed the North Star to find their way at sea. But suddenly, the star vanished into a sweet and painful gasp. _

_What could have stopped the Creature or whatever beauty from singing? Worried that his new found treasure would suddenly fade away without him ever reaching it, he started to run faster. _

_Until the young lad found a girl, bathing in the lake, he stopped abruptly. But he wasn't the only one that had seen her. There was also someone else... a vicious man whom the juvenile lad did not recognize as being part of his court. _

_The woman did not seem to know this man either, for she was trying to keep her distance from him. The man's name, he would later learn, was Raymond Blacksmith. _

"_Get away from me!" shrieked the lady, trying to swim away from the perverted man. _

_The young man had been trained to protect young women and children from harm. His instincts made him step into the lake, into their sight, and stopping the man's hand from falling on the lady's delicate shoulders. _

"_Let go of her, you fiend!" he exclaimed. _

"_I was here first, you...!" _

_But Raymond Blacksmith realized whom he had affair with. He could see that this was the Lord of the land he was trespassing on, and stopped. _

"_I'm sorry, Sire," he grumbled and left. _

"_How can I ever thank you, Sire?" asked the young lady, as she covered herself with a piece of cloth. _

_It was indeed the voice he had been hearing from where he had been. _

"_No need to thank me, milady," he answered as h__e turned around to meet her eyes and smile reassuringly at her. _

_Their eyes met, and it was love at first sight for both of them. _

_He tried to tell her not to worry, that he would make sure the man __would never come back to bother her again, but the words could not come out. He stood there, speechless in front of her beauty. _

_The young man could already imagine himself putting a crown over her long golden hair. She had a face that looked like she was quite gentle and delicate. She was perfect. She was what he had always dreamed of. He couldn't remember having seen such an outstanding exquisiteness in any woman he had met during his travels. To think that his love had been right here all along... while he had been everywhere just to find her. _

_...but no words came out of his mouth... _

_His mysterious lady looked at him as if she were trying to decide what he was thinking. _

"_Err... Forgive me this rude interruption, milady, I didn't think..." he mumbled, turning his back quickly on her, blushing. "I just wanted to see where the singing was coming from. N-now that I know, I won't bother you any longer," he decided, taking a step forward..._"

"Wait! But if it had been love at first sight for both of them, why didn't he tell her? The deadline is coming, so why didn't that young Lord think of asking her to marry him? He needs a lady soon, doesn't he?" asked Samuel, interrupting the story the Rig-Master had started to tell.

For a moment, Lucy's eyes locked themselves into Simon's. They were both smiling dreamily, re-calling a moment in the past, it seemed, that he had no notion of. It was as if the Pirate Lord of the Mediterranean Sea and the Rig-master of the _Insert Name Here_ were lost in their own world. Leanne and Acerbotis both chocked a laugh.

"I'm not talking from experience or anything, but it's really hard to confess one's true feelings towards another as easily as you might think it is."

Samuel looked down, thinking about each time William Turner had tried to tell Elizabeth Swan (in the past, back when none of them had been pirates), and agreed with the Navigator, then wondering if something like this might happen to him as well. Norrington also probably thought about a certain woman, because he had had the same reaction as the Pirate Prince.

Jack Sparrow, shockingly, didn't say anything; as if he was still captivated by the ambiance Lucy had set.

"Lucy, hurry up and continue your story already," Karen coughed.

As if hearing her name snapped her out of it, the Rig-master nodded and obeyed to her Captain.

"_As he took another step away from the woman he knew he loved, the voice of the young woman called out to him. _

"_Wait! I know; how about you come back tomorrow, Sire?" she suggested. _

_He gladly did the next morning. It did not matter that no one in his court knew a girl that would bathe herself in the waters of his lake. It did not matter if the wedding was coming by. _

_All that mattered... all that really mattered at that moment was... _

_...that she was waiting for him. _

_There she was, sitting by the water, wearing a silky dress that enhanced her attractiveness. _

_It had not been a dream...! _

_The young Lord__ sat next to her and they introduced themselves to each other. They started talking about pretty much everything, and immediately knew that they liked talking to each other. He tried to know a bit more about her through their conversation, but she was evasive when it came to her parents. In the end, when it was time for him to leave, he had found nothing about her past. _

_That day, upon departing, the mysterious young woman said that she expected to see him again the next day, at the same time, so they could talk again. _

_The next day, at the same time, he gladly granted her wish, bringing along with him a ring he wished to give her. _

_But at some point, they started to feel awkward, like they were hiding something from each other. There was then a moment of silence between them. _

"_I heard you were looking for a wife," she noticed, looking down on their reflection. "Have you already found one?" she asked, as he didn't reply to the first comment. _

_And that's when he confessed that she was the one he had been hoping to marry, handing her the ring he had brought with him. _

"_I will marry you on the condition that you build me a tower just for me, where I can spend a day per week in there. Alone," she decided. _

_Anything she wanted, he would grant it to her. She was his Eldorado, his Northern Star. It wouldn't matter if she even asked him to give her the moon. He would try to give it to her. _

_He gladly accepted the condition, not thinking seriously of it really, and soon, they got married and had lots of kids they cherished and raised._"

"So this is a typical tale where the couple lives happily ever after and has lots of kids. I don't see the valuable lesson about life that we're supposed to learn at the end of the story... that's it?"

Samuel couldn't help but agree with this. Why was Lucy telling them such a story that did not have any link to their current problem?

"Only if you stop me here, Arashi," answered Lucy, getting annoyed of the fact that she couldn't tell her story correctly without being interrupted.

Acerbotis' eyes were almost closed, as if she was tired and was falling asleep. Jack Sparrow and James Norrington were staring blankly at the movie that had been paused in midair in front of their eyes. Captain Pan, sitting next to Sera, was yawning, while Captain Xavier, leaning towards the box, had closed his eyes and seemed to be following the same movie in his mind. Makoto was glowering at the Lookout. They all seemed quite displeased with the story being interrupted.

Karen's glare made the Lookout sit down and wait for the rest of the story. Was there really a sequel to this? It seemed that Lucy had ended the tale pretty well at that point...

"_And all these years, the Queen's arrival helped the country greatly. Somehow, there was no war with the neighbours, there was always enough food for the villagers and the royal family was appreciated by everyone. Briefly put, the country was prosperous and lived in peace. _

_And all these years, the King had kept his promise about not disturbing her each Saturday, when she locked herself __alone__ in the tower he had built for her. But when the country was in peace, the king's heart began to crave some action. He started to wonder what it was that she was doing all alone in the tower, all day. He began to grow more suspicious each week._"

"Was she cheating on him? I know if I were him, I wouldn't like my wife to cheat on me," Karen asked, cutting Lucy in the middle of the sequel of her story.

It was indeed suspicious that the Queen would lock herself in the tower for the whole day and not tell anyone about what she was doing.

"Shut up, Karen!" snapped Makoto.

What exactly was Karen talking about anyways? She seemed to have made the Coxswain pretty mad...

"This story is going a bit too quickly, isn't it?" remarked Jack Sparrow to Norrington in a whisper, who nodded.

The Pirate Prince had the same opinion as Jack. He felt like Lucy was fast-forwarding this story, even though it seemed like she was taking her time.

"That was actually exactly his thought, but he couldn't dare break the promise he had made to her," answered Lucy, who had not heard -- or had chosen to ignore -- Jack's comment.

"So what'd he do? Let it be and not satisfy his curiosity?" asked Aequora.

It was indeed something that Samuel would find hard to do.

"_One day, the Lord couldn't bear it any longer. He opened the door and climbed the stairs to the only room of the tower, on the top floor. He could hear his wife singing just like the day he had met her... He finally arrived, opened the door and saw that she was bathing..._"

"That's all?!" exclaimed Samuel and Karen at the same time.

"She wasn't cheating on him?!" the Captain added, looking rather disappointed.

Makoto's death glare silenced them at once.

"_The Lord arrived and saw that she was bathing... and where her legs should have been, was a tail made of scales. He was surprised and she stopped singing._"

"She was a Mermaid?" exclaimed Leanne, suddenly curious.

"Not quite, her tail was longer, like a snake's, but proportionate to her body. Briefly put, she was like a Sea Monster," Lucy described. "She could have legs and all, but she needed to bathe in special water once per week to conserve both Powers and Human Form."

"Indeed," Acerbotis nodded when the Rig-Master looked at her for more details.

"Very accurate description, Lucy," commented Jack Sparrow.

Norrington and Samuel agreed, nodding. The Pirate Prince shuddered. Was there something such as half a human, half an animal? Was this called a Monster? Somehow, he did not think that he would name this lady a monster, even though he saw the image Lucy had conveyed of the 'Queen'.

Indeed now, how did Lucy know this about the Queen's Powers? Was this because she had read a lot? Or was this because she knew more about Powers than anyone had assumed her to? By telling them this kind of story with such details, was Lucy revealing to them her true identity as the Sea Witch?

Samuel shrugged, chasing away the theories that were coming back to assault him. This was only a tale anyway; she might have invented and modified some part to make it sound better.

For some reason, the girls -- except Aequora --, and the other Pirate Lords were staring at Makoto. Aequora's gaze met his, for they didn't know why, but they felt like Lucy wasn't telling them this story for nothing. It had to be something serious.

"What happened after?" asked Aequora, breaking herself free from their staring contest.

"_The woman stopped doing whatever it was she was doing, and looked crestfallen all of a sudden. Even in unhappiness, even with a snake body, his lady was still as beautiful as always. His Queen looked as if she had been stabbed on the heart by someone she trusted the most. _

_What had he done wrong? he wondered, clueless. It was not the first time that he had seen her bathe... but this was his first time seeing her tail... Was this why she looked so sad? Because he looked terrified? Was the fact that she had hidden this from him because he would possibly reject her? _

_...he had to admit that he was horrified to see that she was half Human, half a Sea Creature... It had surprised him to find not a man with her, but her alone with a tail and Magical Powers he had never thought she would have. _

"_You have broken the one promise you made me," was all she told him. _

_She didn't seem angered. _

_She was sad. _

_Something in her voice had broken. _

"_I... I'm sorry, I... I'll pretend I haven't seen anything... I... how can I make it up to you?" he asked, sincerely sorry he had doubted his own wife, and broken the promise. _

_The woman's eyes got all blurry the next time she looked at him, shaking her head. _

"_You'll never be able to gain forgiveness. As a punishment, I won't ever appear in front of you in this life ever again." _

_She lifted herself in the air with her Magic and jumped by the window..._"

"That's something I'll avoid doing then," commented Karen.

Arashi nodded gravely as Makoto punched the young Captain's arm.

"She committed suicide over a broken promise?" inquired Sera, ignoring the Coxswain and the Captain's momentary quarrel.

This was also Samuel's question. It was something bad to have broken a promise, but how could the woman commit suicide because of that?

"_Actually, she reluctantly disappeared, and never came back. The broken-hearted Lord searched for his beloved all over his kingdom, and finally sailed for other continents, leaving his country to the care of his children._"

"How romantic, and dramatic at the same time, he abandoned his people for his love," exclaimed Leanne.

"We don't specifically know what really happened to him after that. As for his wife, she actually came here for the **War**, but that's a story for another time, okay?" asked Lucy, yawning and digging her head in Simon's shoulder, whose grip on her tightened into a hug.

"Do we have to leave already?" the French Pirate Lord asked.

Did this mean that they were supposed to leave now that the story was over? Why was Simon the one that seemed the most heartbroken over Lucy's departure? Did they have some kind of relationship or something? Did the Pirate Lord know that his 'lover' had died? How did he know? Was it because Samuel had asked?

"Here's something for you guys to meditate on until the next story, okay?" asked the Rig-master in her sleepy voice.

Was this because Lucy had to come back to the dead soon? Was this why she was telling the story so quickly, because she had to go soon and that she didn't want to waste time?

"What is it, Lucy?" inquired the Cook of the _Insert Name Here_, as everyone else looked at them.

Samuel was eager to meditate on it, but no one seemed very sad upon leaving. Was whatever Lucy going to say important for their problem with Calypso and Davy Jones? Was this some clue she was offering him for any one of his theories?

"The Queen's name was Melusina," Lucy yawned as she blurted this out.

The shock of such a revelation stunned them all. They stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

Simon kissed her forehead, as if he were proud that she had finally decided to reveal the climax of the story he seemed to already have heard about before. "Well, even though I wished I could stay longer, my crew needs me. See you guys later," the French Captain saluted the others. He closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep. Soon after, he disappeared into tiny pieces of light.

"Don't worry, he just joined the Real World, the Conscious World, where you belong," Lucy explained. "It's time for you all to go. Just close your eyes for a long time, and you will sink in deeper in sleep," she added. "Samuel, I did want to ask you, but I guess I'll do that later," she added, rather reluctantly, before disappearing along with Acerbotis.

They were too surprised to answer, or even to tell her goodbye. Lucy had really kept the twist of her story for the last minute...

So that was Melusina's past. How did her true love die? Did the Lord find her before dying? Was it even possible for him to find her when she had told him that his punishment was to never see her again? How could a tale end like this?

"I'll see you later then," decided Jack, as he closed his eyes.

"By my leave, then, Misses and Misters," greeted James Norrington, making a short bow and vanishing into thin air after Jack.

Didn't Melusina and her 'King' still love each other? Couldn't love bring them back together? Would Melusina regret her punishment? If she regretted this, would she stay with him? If she was a Sea Creature, as Lucy had said, she was technically immortal... then would she have sacrificed her immortal life to live as a mortal with him?

Why had she left? Did she still love him even after what he had done? Lucy's words echoed in the Pirate Prince's mind:

"_Actually, she reluctantly disappeared, and never came back._"

So Melusina was forced to leave? Who had forced her to leave?

So many questions, and the only person who seemed to be able to answer them was gone...

...gone... dead...

"That did it. Lucy, you just ruined my sleep. I'm probably going to dream about a Sea Monster now!" complained the Captain of the _Insert Name Here_, interrupting the chain of his thoughts. She was talking to Lucy as if she was still there...

Karen was right, and she soon faded away, into further unconsciousness. Leanne and the others also followed her. Samuel mind filled with these questions was now refusing to go to wake up. Would he even be able to wake up? Was what Lucy had said true? Was he truly... alive?

"What's that **War** Lucy's talking about?" Aequora asked Arashi, who had been the only ones left.

The Lookout shrugged. "I don't know, but I think Lucy will tell us tomorrow... or... another day," she added, quickly.

"I would have liked to know the Lord's name as well, though, since she gave us his Queen's..." Arashi mumbled. "I'll see you on the conscious world, guys!" she added.

"I'll be going as well, Sea-Weak brain," saluted Aequora.

Again with the insults...

But he chose to ignore it. If these were the last words he would hear from her before deepening into death, then so be it... but Arashi had a point.

Indeed, what was the man's name? Was it so insignificant that Lucy had chosen not to tell them? And then again, why had Lucy told them this story exactly? What good was it going to do them to know of Melusina's past? What good was it going to do them if they knew that the banished Goddess had been in relationship with a man once, just like Calypso herself?

What link had this story with their situation exactly? Was this really just a tale, or was this truly Melusina's past?

Lucy didn't seem to want to reveal to them everything at once. Why was this? Was this because some news -- like this one -- would be too shocking for them to handle at once?

Come to think of it, this was the only connexion Samuel could find between Calypso and Melusina. What could have happened between them for two Goddesses such as Calypso and Melusina hate each other so much exactly?

...Would he really wake up on the Sea Witch's ship once again?

**Surprisingly that night, the young Prince of Pirates was able to sleep quite well**** (even though he had made a nightmare), despite the fact that his mind has been assaulted with different questions and theories that seemed not to make sense. **

**Samuel ****also dreamed of marrying Aequora and breaking the same promise the young Lord had broken after so much years of peace. **

**...But his nightmare only started when Aequora was forced to leave his side... **

**

* * *

**

**Ahh isn't it cute? He dreams he will marry her...! Ah! Well, is it much of a cliffhanger if I put it this way? That he might not wake up afterwards? Mehh, it's not as good a cliffhanger as the first one... Ah! Yes. The main message I wanted to put: **

**Melusina has indeed existed (in the Medieval Myths and Legends), and this is indeed her story (modified a bit for the purpose of this story, romanced a little because I found that it was a bit too rough). I thought that it would be best to have the fanfiction match with her past... so... there it is. **

**Please Review **(or stick to the end of this story even though I will put a lot of time into posting the next parts, and also please bear my evilness-wannabe and writing :D)**! =^-^=  
See you next time! *waves* **


	16. Chapter 15:The Angel

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 1****5: The Angel **

By CrystallicPrincess

**Y'all got lucky that today's one of my readers' birthday, I wasn't planning on posting a part this soon (because I have school things to do for tomorrow (and I haven't been able to finish anything yet). I worked really hard to actually finish this part on time, so I hope that YOU (*you know who you are*) are having a happy birthday. **

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...The __young Lord's Queen's name was Melusina..._

These words rang in Samuel's head when he opened his eyes suddenly, his forehead dripping in cold sweat. What had happened? Where was he? The room was a bit too dark for him to see. Was this a room? Or was he on the deck? Was it still the night then?

Was he really in the 'Conscious World', as Lucy had promised? Or had he dreamt of it? Had he fell in Hell while trying to get back?

The young lad tried to rub his eyes, but a sharp pain on his arm prevented him to do so. He bit his bottom lip, in attempt to mute the shout from coming out of his mouth as the Pirate Prince then lifted up his head from the hammock where he had been installed apparently. He was in the bottom 'floor' of the ship, where the mates usually slept when they had finished their shifts...

Come to think of it, he had never seen Lucy take her shift off to sleep... and yet, in that dream of his (was it really a dream?), the Rig-Master had looked so... tired.

Samuel then noticed the bandage that had been installed on his arm, and suddenly remembered the gunshot that he had received and the last image he had had of Aequora.

A very (weirdly) worried face...

And even if this face was weird, why did he feel so... warm inside all of a sudden?

"You really know how to worry someone to their death, don't you, Sea-Weak brain?" asked a voice next to him.

Samuel had a mental list of people who were most likely to call him 'Sea-Weak brain' and neither of them (Karen, Makoto and Aequora) were dead... so that meant that he was alive...!

But this was only one of the first things he noticed. The young man also remarked that the voice had a certain edge to it, that made it seem like its owner had used it to its fullest all night long and now had difficulties communicating with it.

The silhouette (he knew this was Aequora) was rubbing her own eyes, as if trying to get rid of something that was keeping her from seeing him well. Sleep? No, it was impossible for Aequora to lose sleep even if she had been assigned to keep an eye on him. Tears? No, this was also impossible. There was no reason for this woman to even cry.

Samuel blinked twice, wiping the slumber away from his eyes and trying to make sure of what he had seen. However, not letting him the chance to check if she had indeed been sleeping or crying, Aequora had already climbed the stairs up to the deck, and was announcing to the whole crew that he was now awake.

What was wrong with her?

The young Pirate Prince shrugged the question away, slumped back in the hammock and tried to get some sleep, however, only few seconds after he had done this, Makoto stomped by his 'bed' and kicked him off of it.

"MORNING SUNSHINE!" she shouted in his ears, before he had the time to ask her what the heck was wrong with her. "You have gotten two days off already, so now, up to work and let someone else get some sleep, you lazy bum!" she commanded.

"Do you mean that I've been asleep for two days?!" he repeated.

"Isn't that what I just said, Stupid?" answered the Helmsmate, sticking her tongue at him as he mounted the stairs and was suddenly immersed into the sea atmosphere he had been deprived of for two days now.

He felt good, even though his arm didn't seem so well. The sea was calling to him.

A ship was sailing right next to the _Insert Name Here _(not that it could have done otherwise, since Makoto and Karen were constantly keeping an eye on Jack, and that Arashi had now settled for a new 'temporary' post as their Watchman.

"Oi, Mate, wash the chase guns where you drooled for me, won't you?" demanded the Captain Karen, behind the helm.

True, he had been wounded, and had fallen unconscious near the chase guns...

"What happened? I thought I was wounded..."

There was a silence, over both the ships. Jack Sparrow, James Norrington and Arashi on the _Success_ remained silent. The first kept an eye on the compass he was holding while the second was busy cutting a stake out of a piece of wood. The third one didn't see anything coming from her Crow's Nest post, so she had nothing to say and basically was too far away to hear anything anyways. Karen and Leanne were staring at the map that the Navigator had spread in front of them, and mumbled something silently. Aequora was too high, on the Crow's nest of the _Insert Name Here_ for him to see her reaction.

Were they hiding something from him?

"Let's just say an Angel came over and healed you," answered Makoto, who was now grinning as she was handed the helm. "We didn't do much but clean the wound; you had a high fever, or something, so the rest was up to you. To stay in a coma, or to wake up," she added. "Aequora and Leanne were the ones that insisted you to be kept for at least a week, to see if you'd wake up... if you didn't..."

The Coxswain stopped in the middle of her sentence, as if she didn't have to continue at all.

An Angel? What were they talking about? What did she mean by Angel? Why did it seem like she was saying it with a capital 'A'? Did she mean someone they knew, or did she mean some kind of a miracle that happened? If it was the first case, then who exactly was the Angel? Did it have a certain meaning that he was yet to be able to understand? What was she talking about? What had happened exactly while he was unconscious? So Aequora and Leanne had tried to 'save' him from Karen's traitorous ideas... He felt a little more comfortable now that he knew there were at least two of his shipmates on his side.

"If I didn't...?" repeated the young lad, almost reluctantly. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what they wanted to do with his body while he was unconscious...

"Karen wanted to let your wound bleed a little more and throw you off board to the sharks," the ex-Commodore Norrington answered.

Sharks were believed to be have an incredibly accurate sense of smell, which abled them to detect blood from a very long distance in sea water, and could move very quickly (from what he had heard from Mr. Gibbs and other people) to eat or attack the wounded prey. Samuel gasped and glared at the female Captain and Pirate Lord, almost outraged, even though he had to admit that he was not really surprised by the fact that an ex-Amazon such as Karen was able to do something like that.

"I beg to differ, I merely wanted to see how far they would go as to get a body that's bleeding, and that's all," Karen shrugged as she explained herself. "It was all for the purpose of science," she added, smiling. "What? Ye have to admit that I was much more original than Jack over there," she pointed out, looking at the others as if they were also mad at her.

"What was his idea?" asked a curious Pirate Prince.

"He... wanted to send you to a deserted island, and leave you there," answered the Captain of the _Insert Name here_, pleased that she wasn't the subject of their glares now.

Jack Sparrow had indeed not been quite original, since Barbossa had once given the _Black Pearl_'s Captain this kind of punishment before. The first time the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea had betrayed his Caribbean fellow Pirate Lord, he had decided to maroon Jack on a deserted island with a pistol which contained only one bullet, so he could shoot himself when he had been driven mad by both hunger and heat. Samuel really couldn't understand the Pirate Lord's intentions. Jack had saved his identity from Barbossa (did he even know who Samuel really was anyways?) and yet, he was willing to let the young lad die of madness on a piece of land surrounded by the sea!

"Now, I didn't say we should maroon him on **any** island," intervened Jack, saving himself before everyone would look angrily at him.

"He wanted to offer you as a sacrifice to the Pelegostos," explained Leanne, lifting her head up from the map she had been studying.

The Pelegostos, the habitants of the Pelegosto island, and neighbour of the departed Tia Dalma, Voodoo Priestess (later, she had ended up to be the Goddess Calypso in flesh), were infamous for their 'taste' for human flesh and particular ways of sending their Gods (in Human form) back to where they belong (if you called roasting the Gods and eating them later a welcoming party for the Gods), or so that was what Mr Gibbs and William Turner had once told him. They also greeted the strangers on their island, and also ate them.

"Which would serve you right," commented Captain Karen, who still hadn't forgiven him for letting the East India Trading Company get a hold of her precious pouch. "I still haven't found a suitable punishment," she pointed out in a mumble, but was nudged by the Navigator, who had decided that Samuel just recovering from his wound didn't deserve to be reminded of something as dreadful as a punishment.

"How could you treat an unconscious mate to such a fate?" asked James Norrington, as if he still hadn't gotten used to the idea that Jack Sparrow had suggested.

"Pirate, remember?"

Makoto left the helm for Karen to maintain, and jumped on board of the _Success_, to inspect the deck for a change. Apparently, she still didn't feel really comfortable with the fact that they had left her alone on the _Insert Name Here_ while they had all the fun of fighting and crossing swords with the East India Trading Company. At that moment, Sera came on the deck, holding a bowl containing a mix of suspicious ingredients that she was stirring calmly.

"Oh! Samuel just woke up! Are we going to send him to Porky?" the Cook asked. Obviously, Sera couldn't hear anything from this place they called 'Kitchen' and the silence was now much more awkward than it had been before.

And also, she had evidently also contributed to the list of propositions of what to do with his body. Who was this Porky she was talking about anyways? The other girls seemed to understand what she was saying, because they ignored the comment completely. On the other hand, it seemed like Sera and the other girls had not bothered explaining to the other two Pirate Lords, because Jack Sparrow and the ex-Admiral looked at each other with a confused look on their face.

"Where are we going?" James Norrington inquired, clearly, without any success, changing the conversation as subtly as possible.

"Where are we heading to indeed, now that our precious little lad has woken up?" Jack Sparrow asked.

So Karen and the others had decided to keep him in the coma in the end (for a week), and wait until he wakes up (if he did in a week) to decide where to go to next? Samuel couldn't help but feel a little grateful towards his crew mates. From the information he had gotten from this conversation, the young Pirate Prince deduced that his friends had left him sleeping on the hammock for some time, since he had a fever that he was the only one capable of getting out of. They had also given themselves shifts to who would be keeping an eye on him (since Aequora had been at his side when he woke up (probably forced into this job by Makoto, since she looked so reluctant to be with him in the past days)).

"Somewhere with food, I hope, because even though Lucy 'left us', we have three guys on board, my food stock is lower than it should have been," started Sera, now mopping the deck.

Sera said 'left us' in a way that made it seem like the Rig-Master had only left them and was coming back... and yet, he knew (thanks to the dream he had gotten) that Lucy would indeed never return (except in their dreams, perhaps)... Come to think of it, did the others have the same dream as he did? Had they gotten Lucy's message from the dead, or was it that he was the only one who had received the story of Melusina?

"Aye, plenty of food where we're headin', mateys," agreed Karen, oblivious to the young lad's uneasy expression at the moment. "We're going to Shipwreck Cove," she announced. "Leanne said it be best we return there and deliver those two before going to find Elizabeth and that dim-wit Pirate Lord of the Black Sea," she said. "Plus, we are lacking a Rig-Master and food."

Samuel felt relieved that they would be heading to find his mother and the successor of Ammand the Corsair soon. This meant that they would most possibly find the Pirate King, didn't it? Hadn't Barbossa, Ragetti and Pintel (a while ago) told him that the Sea Witch's ship was infamous for finding whatever its Captain had decided it would set sail for? No matter what, the young man clung to the idea that he would discover what had happened to his parents one day or another if he stayed with Captain Karen and her crew.

Nevertheless, did they mean that they were going to replace Lucy? From the looks Leanne, Sera and Makoto, who had come back on their ship, (he was sure that if she had heard what her Captain had said, Arashi would also have imitated them) immediately sent to Karen, the young Prince of Pirates were quite perturbed with this idea, just as he was. So this was Karen's idea alone. Samuel couldn't really disagree with the Captain. She was doing this for the well-being of the ship, and that was a Captain's duty to do so... but there must've been another way...

"I can be the Rig-Master!" exclaimed the young man.

The others almost glared at him when they looked at him. "You don't think that Lucy can be replaced, and neither do we, so just consider that your task as the Rig-Master substitute is the closest task you'll get to official Rig-Master," calmly announced Makoto.

From the Captain's facial expression when she heard this, the Coxswain's decision was clearly not Karen's idea to let Samuel be officially part of their team. Jack Sparrow seemed relieved that the Pirate Prince wasn't going to be part of his crew, because he sighed satisfactorily as James Norrington just smiled, as if he was content with the ending of this issue.

"B-but..."

"No 'but's, you are now Lucy's substitute, until further notice," decided Karen, understanding the others' opinions. "And we are still going to Shipwreck Cove," the Leader of the ship added, smiling.

"Wait a minute, speaking of Shipwreck Cove, since Beckett has already been to Shipwreck Cove, can't he already have found the other Pirate Lords and taken on the fortress?" asked the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea.

Indeed, this was a good question. Elizabeth Swan had told him that thanks to both Jack Sparrow and William Turner (though at the time, it had been officially Will Turner, who had admitted he hadn't acted in favour of Jack Sparrow, but for his own good, even though Lord Cutler Beckett had told them all that the present Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ had been a tool of Jack Sparrow's scheme). Beckett indeed knew the location of the Pirate Island. What if they returned there, and found that the East India Trading Company was besieging militarily the piece of land?

Of course, Samuel didn't care of his fellow pirate's fate, since Shipwreck Island had been designed to be able to keep its inhabitants alive in any case of a siege. If Beckett was willing to wait in front of the Pirate Lords' doors forever, it was up to him. However, if it was that they arrived at the wrong time, right behind Beckett and his armada, it would be quite difficult to be able to escape that situation. How could they even think of entering Shipwreck Cove if the East India Trading Company's soldiers were surrounding the island?

"But it's not his priority to find the Pirate Lords anymore," explained Arashi, who had slid down from her position, letting Aequora, who was still on top of the _Insert Name Here_'s central mast, do the job for the time being.

"Or, rather, he is still after us, but his main concern is somewhere else. He will come to us one day though," rephrased Karen, who looked like she was much more up to date with Beckett's agenda than anyone else.

For some reason, ever since he had witnessed their encounter at Port Royal, the young man felt like Karen and Beckett had indeed known each other and that neither of them considered each other to have such a good relationship. What was his main concern then? Was it related to finding the pirates that had his age? Who was he looking for anyways? Was it that he was looking for Karen (to avenge of some offence she might have given him at an encounter long ago)?

"If it had been his priority, don't you think we would have even more visits from Mercer and his men?" added Jack Sparrow, nodding as he understood the girls' points of view.

"Well, it's nice to have found Villanueva's successor and all," assured Makoto, changing the subject completely. "I think it's a good idea we go to Shipwreck Cove. Jack and Norrington will need a ship and a crew each. They can't squat here forever," she added, putting more emphasis on the 'squat'.

"Oh. No. I already have a ship," affirmed Jack, holding the _Success_' helm proudly. "The _Black Pearl_."

Jack Sparrow was infamous for being loyal to his ship (in other words, he was very proud of being the _Black Pearl_'s Captain). James Norrington would probably end up with pirateering the _Success_ (they could have stolen the _Dauntless_ the other night, since Norrington had always been the Captain of that ship in his youth, but Makoto had judged it more efficient to rob the East India Trading Company from the _Success_). All he needed now was a crew that would obey his every order and remain loyal to him (unlike Barbossa and the rest of Sparrow's crew). This would rather be quite tough, because the Pirate Lord of the Adriac Sea was once famous for leading a war against piracy, and he had probably hunt down all of the pirates that would be on Shipwreck Cove back when he was still working for England. So the pirates that would be given the 'opportunity' to be under his command would most likely refuse, because of his past.

"For now, it's under Captain Barbossa's care. We ain't gonna steal a comrade's ship, Jack," interrupted Leanne. "There will certainly be Captains out there with a ship or two to spare," she added. "Hopefully, they'll have the crews that will go with it."

"You'll have your _Pearl_ back, Jack," commented Karen, trying to encourage the Caribbean Pirate Lord (who was looking down as if he was depressed with remembering that someone had stolen his ship once again).

"The winds are changing again," remarked Leanne. "There's a storm coming, we should take shelter at Tortuga and report our trip to Shipwreck Cove," she suggested. "There will be food over there, and we just have to '_sing the song_'," she added. "To summon the Brethren Court to Shipwreck Island once again," she explained.

By '_sing the song_', Leanne meant that they were going to summon the Brethren Court using a method that only Pirate Lords knew of (they kept it secret. Even Elizabeth Swan didn't want to reveal to her son how she would proceed if she needed the Brethren Court's assistance). It was an effective way to communicate with each other at sea in this context. The Navigator let the others decide whether to follow her ideas or not, remaining silent as they interiorly thought about it.

"Good idea, I bet most of them are out there salvaging innocent boats right now..." remarked Jack, looking as if he was disappointed by the fact that he hadn't been able to take care of such tasks himself anymore.

James Norrington had a bad experience with storms ever since he had gotten caught in a tornado while chasing after Jack Sparrow (the result being that he almost lost his life, and actually lost his ship and crew to it). He seemed to silently agree with his fellow Pirate Lord's idea.

Arashi seemed as unemotional as ever. She didn't seem to really care of their destination, as long as they would go somewhere (apparently, she didn't like sitting around at the same place without a goal for too long). Frankly, Samuel couldn't help but feel the same (even though he had not really felt the days go by since he was unconscious).

"As long as there is food," shrugged the Cook, smiling.

"A storm you say?" repeated Karen, perplex as she looked up at the sky, soon imitated by the others, which was as cloudless as ever.

"Are you deaf?" asked Makoto, evidently annoyed.

Indeed, if Leanne had said so, Leanne knew. She was the Navigator after all, and after all the time he had spent with them, the Navigator had never failed to predict the weather, and so, he had to trust her when she said there would be a storm coming up soon.

"Then I have a good idea of Samuel's next part of the punishment," the Captain smirked and ran back in her cabin. "To Tortuga it is, Makoto! I miss Helga's rum too much to lose this opportunity," she announced, from her quarters. "How long will it take us there? Do we have any stops on the way?" she asked their Navigator.

So she indeed still hadn't forgiven him... The young man shrugged and proceeded into cleaning the chase guns up (without moving his injured arm too much) before Makoto slapped him again for forgetting such a task. Honestly, he didn't feel like he had gotten a promotion in the crew at all. Sera headed for the kitchen as Leanne collected new data on a new map.

"It will take us about three days if we do this the normal way. Of course, it would be way faster if we used the Sea Witch's specialty. Otherwise, we could make a stop or two in the way if we do the whole trip. The storm has already passed Tortuga, I think," her interlocutor estimated, taking a look at her map once more. "Don't decide all by yourself, do you have an idea as to a certain stop we should make?" she inquired.

"Don't worry, I just need to make some adjustments to our schedule, and perhaps this will fit in," explained Karen.

Makoto left the helm to James Norrington, who had jumped aboard (he had finished moulding his stake, apparently, and had begun to feel bored) and suddenly followed Karen into the quarters. She was probably going to inquire of the punishment, however, a few minutes after she had closed the door behind her, there was a shout. "YOU ARE PLANNING TO SEND HIM **THERE**?! ARE YOU MAD?" the Coxswain's voice demanded.

Where did Karen plan to send him to exactly? Was this a place that Makoto feared so much? Was the Helmsmate actually worried for him, or was it more because she didn't want to get involved? Finally, the Coxswain and the Captain, the first one in a very bad mood when she lifted up her head and saw him hopeful of hearing explanations, while the second one looked quite delighted, came out of the cabin.

"It's decided, you are going on the _Flying Dutchman_ on your next solo mission, Samuel," regretfully announced Makoto.

**What was this all about?! **

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**I know this is a cliffhanger and that not much actions have been added in this part, bear with me, because I might publish the next part next month... xD  
I hope you enjoyed, that I'll see you next month, and that you'll REVIEW! :P **


	17. Chapter 16: The Recordings 1

**The Purple Moon**

**Part 16: The Recordings 1**  
By CrystallicPrincess

**I know it hasn't been a month since I last posted. As a matter of fact, it has been only a week (rounding the days...). So... what's up? It's Single Awareness Day (S.A.D.) tomorrow (also known as Valentine's Day) where I live.  
NOTE: This doesn't mean that I'll celebrate White Day with you guys, does it (if I did celebrate White Day, you guys would be the ones giving me a gift, right? And if you guys really wanna make me happy, just comment...! (and don't say something like: "CrystallicPrincess, you're obsessed with comments", please!))?  
Well, it's sad, but CrystallicPrincess has yet to find her Prince, so... I decided to make you guys my Valentine, whether you like it or not, and this is my gift to you :D.  
It sounds weird come to think of it, but I wasn't really planning on posting this part till... really far in the story...  
****...yet... I feel like I should start posting this now. Good luck trying to find out what this part is about. I'm quite confused myself. **

**I hope you'll enjoy this part as I have enjoyed picturing it, and I'll see you guys at the cliffhanger! **

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**Entry 1: **This Disgusting Feeling of Belonging

Governor Weatherby Swan has fulfilled his promise of preparing a festival for my departure, despite my objections (as usual, I should point out). This feast was going to delay my going away... Saying that I didn't want to leave this place for good would be a telling a lie. As a matter of fact, I've always dreamed of running away from this place ever since I set foot here.

How I miss my England.

The Governor of Port Royal was wearing his favourite aristocratic frock coat with his frilled cravat, as usual. Over his brown hair was a white wig, symbol of his authority as a Governor, which was almost hidden by his tri-corn hat, which was adorned with various feathers.

Anyways, I attended the party, as I should, and I set off to entertain the guests. I have to say, the festivity was quite a success. The Red Coats appointed to Port Royal did an amazing job in discipline, as I had taught them to be back then. I shudder when thinking back of the time when Governor Swan had trouble even deciding what kind of ceremony the soldiers should reserve for such activity. How repressively troublesome it was to discipline them all over again.

The reception the Swans were giving at their house was simple (even though they made it unnecessarily grand). They had invited everyone I had gotten in contact with during the past years, even the most unimportant young people, to have dinner and tea together after the ceremony of my promotion. The ballroom they have used to host this event was adorned with crimson curtains on each window, and tables with all the sets of utensils that you would need to eat the dinner that the Swans had prepared (subtly putting in the menu all of my favourite meals (notably the slumgullion, which I was looking forward to eat), hoping that I wouldn't notice any of their 'attentions'). There was a stage for the musicians, who played the latest hits from England (probably Lady Swans' idea of accommodating me to the new customs of London). Finally, there was the dance floor that no one used as such. We were all over it, standing there and talking to each other.

No one danced.

...or rather, no one dared to dance.

Was it because they, like me, found it too troublesome?

Or was it because they didn't feel like dancing, but talking to each other and trying to get a closer look at the monster that was leaving Port Royal?

...or because they have forgotten how to...

In a way, it seemed that they had invited few young ladies I had never seen before to the party, probably trying to match-make me with one of them. I carefully avoided any contact with these creatures, only presenting myself whenever I was asked to, and answering the questions that were directed to me. The Swans treated me as if I was part of their nauseating family, and lingered over the fact that no feminine figure attracted me other than a ship. Sometimes, while taking a walk on Port Royal, they would point this girl, randomly, and ask if I found her pretty, or that other girl on the other side of the street.

"It is nice to see you again," said Governor Swan's wife, Winifred Swan, from her seat, when I came to present my greetings to her and the Governor.

Winifred Swan was the type of lady that loved England's latest fashion, hence the breath-taking dress she was wearing to please her husband's eyes. The first time I saw her, I have felt like her brown eyes could pierce my very soul and guess that she knew of my instant homesickness (as they all call it here). She had made her servants comb her dark blond hair and tie her hair the way the London women usually do. This was also why Winifred detested staying here for a long time, and often demanded a trip to London with her husband, either as a way to voyage, or for business trips.

Lady Swan had difficulties walking, with her condition and all. At first, Governor Swan had been worried over her fever, but now, it seems like they are quite happy of her finally being pregnant. Now that her stomach has gotten swollen, she can't stand up for a long period of time; thus, she was sitting the whole night, with Governor Swan at her side. Now that she was pregnant, Winifred Swan also wished to give birth and raise her child in the conditions of London. Weatherby Swan had reluctantly accepted (he could hardly refuse anything to her), but he would be separated from her during these years, due to his job as the Governor. They looked like a very happy couple (the only couple I have met with such a cheerful aura radiating from it). They welcomed me with opened arms when I was sent here to inspect the region.

"It has already been such a long time since you came here. You are almost part of our family now," the Governor said. "Are you planning on coming back some day?" he inquired, almost looking like a father that had difficulties seeing his offspring leaving the family house forever.

I hesitated. Seeing as here, I lacked authority compared to Weatherby Swan, it would be unsuitable to be honest and say that I would never come back here even if I had no choice. On the other hand, lying would go against my principles.

They might have been blunt enough to think that I was weighing my words, or that I was sentimental enough to weep (or whatever other unintelligent things emotional people do) over such a minor detail. I was saved by a fine youngster that lived in our neighbourhood. This five years old boy's goal was to be an Admiral at the East India Trading Company, and he has the potential to become one, and when I become the Governor of the East India Trading Company, I will allow him to become my right hand, if he hasn't changed his ambitions.

I enjoyed my time around this boy the most, because he hates pirates just as much as I loathe them. His abhorrence is without doubt due to the fact that pirates have killed his father, who was working as a soldier for the Port Royal navy. This young boy listened to every pirate story I had in store for him, and nurtures his extreme dislike towards these specimens with great care. If he becomes Admiral of the East India Trading Company, he promises he will only use his powers for justice.

I am sure he will prove to be quite useful in few years.

"They're lying, right? You're not leaving us yet, are you?" he demanded, looking at me with the eyes a puppy makes when trying to persuade someone to take it in.

Such a promising kid, but...

Pathetic.

He looked so sad that Lady Swan choked a sob that she wished I hadn't heard, and hugged him in her arms. Perhaps this reminded my subconscious of my own mother, who was not quite as motherly as Governor Swan's wife (after all, was my mother not the one who preferred my older brother over me enough that she proposed to send me to the Marine so that I could die in battle instead of putting shame on our family's name?), because my heart skipped a beat. However, I remained as calm as possible.

Could it be that I have stayed here for such a long time that their disgusting kindness have rubbed off on me? Tender feelings such as these are reserved for the weak. They were all nice people, and I fear that this quality might have tainted on me. This disgusting feeling of being obliged to be kind to one another is frighteningly contagious. If I stay longer, I might lose sight of my objectives and never be able to reach my goal of going back to London. I have to leave as soon as possible. This place is just a distraction among others. Obstacles spread on my way to ultimate success.

"Yes, I'm afraid I will be leaving tomorrow, at dawn," I answered. This little guy is so young that he is most likely not to remember me when he achieves his dreams. "Duty calls," I explained, smiling.

The boy understood the meaning of these words, because he wiped Lady Swan's tears with a tissue that he stored in his pockets for rare occasions like this, and nodded to me with the most serious face. Indeed, he has potential.

For now, however, he still runs after his mother, and tries to behave as much as possible around adults. He fell asleep in Lady Swan's arms before all the guests arrived. His mother and Governor Swan's wife then decided to take their leave and took him with them. Now, it was me, Governor Swan, and the visitors. Entertaining such gruesome people is an unimaginable task that has to be done during parties.

...Just another reason why I will never prepare or host a party in my life.

"My goodness, I can't believe it is you," recognized Miss Evelina.

...here's another reason never to host a party.

She wore her clothes in the same fashion as Winifred Swan, only, as she is unmarried, this outfit seemed different on her. As a matter of fact, all of the women seemed to have chosen to dress themselves almost similarly to the fashion in England. I have met this woman the first day I came here. She and five other girls of her school were having tea with Winifred Swan at the Swan's.

...I remember her scream when she saw me. It was more of a gasp, in a girly exaggerated way, really.

"I think I would take that as I compliment," advised Miss Jenessa, her best friend, whispering in my ear.

Miss Jenessa, a completely blonde woman (both ways), who giggles for nothing, and is always seen with Misses Evelina and Coretta (we could say they were inseparable, and loved to bug Lady Swan about the latest fashion in England, the usual girl topics they would have). If I recall correctly, the day of my arrival, it was raining so badly that my clothing was completely soaked.

...This woman had hidden her face when she first saw me.

"How you've changed," remarked Miss Coretta, leaning over me, as to study me from head to toe (mostly my face, apparently, because she was leaning a bit too close to my chest).

This fair maiden had always had trouble with the subjects they learned in school, but she hardly showed any difficulty in attracting the lads she judges attractive. Of the three inseparable lasses, this hazel brown haired woman is the one that uses her brain most quickly when it comes to practical matter. If I can evoke that scene once again, I will notice that my hat and my tunics were covered with mud from walking all the way from port to the Swans' residence.

...I still see her fainting and collapsing in the nearest (male, if I recollect well) servant's arms when she saw me.

"I will take that as a compliment as well, I guess, miladies," I concluded, trying to get my leave as quickly as possible. "If you'll excuse me, I have other guests I must get to," I managed to pull myself together and articulate before any of them could remark any other change in me ever since that day.

...and ever since, they have arranged to meet with Winifred Swan when I was gone, in hopes that I wouldn't notice their change of behaviour each time I came in the room.

"Oh. Please do," replied Miss Jenessa, giggling.

Right, I had arrived a day earlier than I was supposed to, and it was in the middle of a storm at Port Royal. My ship had docked correctly, but no one had come to welcome me (we all assumed it was because I was supposed to come only a day later), so I had had to walk through the empty streets of this puny city, through the rain, looking for the manor in which resided the Swans. My eyes were probably the ones from which emanated my hatred the most, because ever since, the servants that were present have avoided looking at me in the eye. Whether it is because I am a rank higher than them, or because my death glare was something they didn't want to cross ever again, I am still unsure.

Following her lead, Miss Evelina started chuckling nervously as well. "I can't believe you thought he was a monster back then," she whispered to Miss Coretta, when she thought I could not listen to their conversation. "And now, look, he has become quite a nice man."

The shock on Weatherby Swan's face when he first opened the door and saw me, an officer, coming over to his house on such a bad day. His eyes (the same as Lady Swan's that day, though less piercing) had been filled with excuses and guilt. They were the only ones who considered me as a human despite my weird clothing, and probably my stare.

"I know."

This was the only thing she could say after rejecting me, and branding me a monster.

...I can't believe I vowed my life to protect theirs.

I know. These things are quite unrelated to the subject that interests us. However, anecdotes like this might reveal themselves quite useful if I ever come back, or come across these girls' paths ever again.

...some people are just not so important to protect...

I went to see Weatherby Swan, who was beckoning me to come by his side. "I see you were talking to those fine ladies over there. Has one of them sparked any interest in you?" he demanded, smiling teasingly as he elbowed me in a way he wished to be friendly.

"No, Governor, they were merely inquiring of my well-being in Port Royal since that day," I informed him, ignoring the grimace he made when remembering how inhuman I probably looked that infamous day.

"I see, I hope they haven't caused you any trouble at all," wished the woman who was at his side. She has, apparently, heard stories. "Governor Swan, won't you present me?" she inquired, whispering to his ear and smiling widely at me.

I have never seen her anywhere near my field of work. Her long brown hair wasn't tied up like the other woman's. One would think she didn't enjoy following the London fashion, yet, she was wearing the same dress as them. Her frail white skin indicated that she fell sick quite easily, or that she didn't like to go out often (and if she does, she probably takes her umbrella with her, to shade herself from the sun). It seemed to me like I had met her before.

"Oh, right. I was hoping that you would entertain Miss Melody here," he admitted, sending her over to my side. "It's her first time here, she comes from London, and she was sent here by her parents, to check on her little cousin, but he left with his mother a while ago. She has no friends of her own in Port Royal, so I thought you would be kind enough to show her around a little," Governor Swan winked at me when he said that.

So this lady was the cousin of the Admiral-boy. No wonder her face looked so familiar. It only took me a second look to remark the same idolizing gaze from her eyes that I could find on the little boy's.

"All right," I decided, as she put her arm under mine.

I showed her around indeed, giving her anecdotes and tips about the people that we met on the way (which were not as numerous as I make it sound like in here). Miss Melody asked seldom questions, so she was much less troublesome than any of the three other harpies. It was useful to have her by my side, because then, the guests considered that they didn't want to bother me for too long. Plus, Weatherby Swan couldn't dare present other girls to me while I was still 'enjoying' my company.

"Why aren't they dancing?" she inquired, looking at the empty dance floor.

Because people have forgotten how to...

Because they find it awkward to dance when I'm around...

Because I'm here, it's as simple as that...

"Because it's troublesome."

Fear.

Miss Melody looked down, as if disappointed. Was this because she was expecting a lot more fun coming from a party to commemorate all the loyal years of service I have given away to Port Royal?

"Would you like to dance?" I was surprised to hear myself demand this.

Melody looked up, her eyes shining, and at that exact moment, she looked like her cousin, with the same puppy eyes, and the same facial expression.

"I would love to, but... no one would..." she started.

She has trouble being accepted by others, like me, because she's new in this environment. What was I thinking at that time? Was I planning on taking her to the dancing stage, and... dance? This is nothing like me. I wouldn't have done that for anyone. But... those puppy eyes...

"I'll find someone," I promised, reassembling my courage together. "How about I fetch you some drink while I let these gentlemen get to know you more?" I pointed out the group of young men of our age that had been devouring her from a distance ever since she walked by next to me.

Miss Melody smiled, subtly dissatisfied with my decision, but I only learned this later. I went to fetch that glass of fresh drink for her, and noticed, from the table where I was, that even with me gone, no one dared talking to her. It was normal for me, since I had appeared like a bad omen over Port Royal, but she didn't seem like a monster to avoid...

...and she wanted that dance...

I tried to please her, asking wandering young men, pointing at her and asking them if they wished to dance with her. Negative answers sprouted from everyone I spoke to.

...Another reason why I don't like parties...

This was probably a set-up.

"Maestro, if you could please," I indicated him a song that was played often in London, in those times when I was still there.

It was quite a popular song for waltz, and, somehow, I just knew that Miss Melody was the type of person that liked such music. The musical part of my plan was done, and yet, I was still missing the partner she would dance with. I left the glasses of drink over to the table reserved on my name, and went back to fetch Miss Melody, to invite her to sit for a while and wait for a random young man to come and request her to a dance.

"So?" I inquired. "Not socializing much, are we?"

"Not quite. So you didn't get any water?"

I did not know how this next scene occurred. I have no idea how it did, and I have no idea why I have done what I did, but what's in the past remains in the past, right?

"Would you like to have a dance, Miss Melody?" I heard myself demand.

It was like watching my body doing something that I would never have done.

It was not me.

The young lady took my palm in hers, and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

Did this mean that she wanted a dance with me all along? Of all the women I have met, she must be the most unpredictable...

...and the most courageous as well, I must admit.

After all, what kind of a lady would she be if she dared hope for someone like me to invite her to a dance?

She took my hand and we arrived on the floor reserved for dancing right when the maestro had decided to start the music. Miss Melody probably was named for her talent in music, because she was a marvellous dancer. She knew exactly what I was going to ask her to do the moment I was to tell her. Her movements on the floor were fluid and overwhelming. Melody took all the space, and yet, stayed as far away from me as possible.

People had stopped chattering around, and were staring at the dance floor and its dancers as if they were alienated.

"How did you know this was my favourite song?" she asked, after a while. "You're the one that requested this, right? I saw you talking with the maestro," she added.

...unpredictable...

"I didn't."

Melody whirled on the dance floor, away from me, only holding my hand for a moment. It made me feel empty, for a while. "Thank you. It's a fabulous birthday present."

People were now coupling up together and started invading our spot on the dancing stage now. I wasn't sure if I had heard correctly.

I pulled her back closer to me. "It's your birthday today?" I repeated.

"No, it will be tomorrow," she answered, realizing that she had made a blunder. Her usually white pinkish cheeks coloured themselves with a timid red.

...her birthday landed on the day of my departure...

Melody probably didn't want to tell me because she thought I would feel bad leaving on the day of her birthday. She is that type of person...

...unpredictable...

...and yet...

...too easy to figure out...

Kindness is too disgusting and predictable.

We left the dancing for the other people. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and Melody was much happier now that she had gotten her dance (whether it was this reason or the fact that she had helped in putting more joy to the little party, she never told me). We then sat and drank the drinks that I had reserved for us on the table.

Whenever she was with me, no one bothered me.

I can't say I didn't like it.

...it would be a lie...

"How long are you going to stay here?"

"I guess I'm going to stay here a couple of days, and then, I have to go back to England," she answered, surprised that I would ask such a question all of a sudden, in the middle of an awkward silence.

"I see."

"So I might see you again on the streets of London," she concluded. "Will you accept invitations to tea?"

What sort of nonsense was she saying? If Weatherby Swan had told her about my job and all, she should at least have noticed that I love my job more than anything else.

"For you, I might."

...again, something that isn't "me" to say...

"Did you enjoy your stay here at all?" Melody demanded, at some point, when we finally came back in the hall crowded of dignitaries that I had met before.

I wasn't sure what to answer. Would she have a bad impression of Port Royal and of the Swan family if I gave her my feelings about this place?

I guess…

"Melody," called out a voice in the crowd. "Time to go," he said.

"Oh, that must be my uncle. I shall take my leave then," she concluded, making a reverence as to show her respect.

I guess...

"The pleasure was mine, Miss Melody," I admitted, making a short bow as well. "And happy birthday as well."

Melody looked like she was disappointed, but she didn't let it show. The young woman strode towards the man that was looking at us both first. Then, somehow, as if she had remembered something, turned around, and walked back by my side.

I guess...

"If you don't wish to give it to me, I will take it as my birthday present." Upon arriving next to me, Melody dragged me down to her level, and kissed my cheek.

…some people are worth protecting…

To say that I felt completely oblivious to this dizzy feeling my suddenly hot cheeks were giving me would be a complete lie.

But with her departure, I was able to regain self-control on myself again.

No. Let me rephrase that: I was able to be myself again.

I was happy that the chances of me seeing her again were thin. For odd reasons, women like Miss Melody and Lady Swan destabilize me completely. ... Perhaps this is because they are unlike Miss Evelina, her friends, and my own maternal figure...

That night, I have tried to interact as little as possible, and make it sound like I was tired, so that Governor Swan would stop coming over to my table with another woman he wished me to talk to. I can hardly wait for tomorrow, but everyone is probably sleeping right now, and setting sail right now would be less than cordial towards the people that have been so kind as to receive me here for such a long time, and endure me, myself and my lack of emotions.

* * *

**Not too much of a shock yet? I hope I was subtle enough with the "I" part...  
****No, you don't get to see who wrote this, but you can still speculate, right? What are the clues that I've given you? (hint hint: It's not Weatherby Swan!) And well, that's about it, is it? Hm, well, I'll let you guys decide by yourself, shall I? **

**Happy Valentine's Day (S.A.D.), and I hope you'll celebrate it with me by at least posting some comments (or PMs, so that I at least know that you appreciate the story up to now)? :P **


	18. Chapter 17:The Flying Dutchman's Captain

**The Purple Moon **

**Part ****17: The **_**Flying Dutchman**_**'s Captain**

By: CrystallicPrincess

**Hello guys! Honestly, I was going to post this a lot earlier (yesterday), for White Day, but... unfortunately, each time I kept trying to post, there was some error with , so I had to stop trying and wait for today to post it. I hope you'll enjoy this one, because... you'll see someone really familiar! **

**I'm sorry in advance for any really major mistakes that I might have done while writing this chapter, I'm kind of caught between homework, writing, essays, writing, mangas and exams, so... please bear with me. I won't mind if you send me a PM asking me to change some things (if I judge them changeable, I will oblige). **

**Please enjoy.  
**

* * *

"HELP!"

The scream was lost in the torrents of the storm, the noise the waves made when they slammed over the helpless body, floating with only a piece of wood to stand up against the fuming merciless sea. The raindrops attacked the man's face without clemency, punishing him for a crime he had not committed, and obviously wanting for him to drown.

"_What are you talking about?" repeated Samuel, uncertain of the Coxswain's words. _

"_It has been decided that for your final punishment, you are going to the _Flying Dutchman_ on a solo mission," repeated Leanne as she lifted her head up from her map. "Why didn't you choose me for that mission?" the Navigator demanded, almost outraged, as if she already knew what the solo mission that Karen had decided to give him was. "I could do it ten times faster than him," she added. _

_Aequora seemed to have noticed, from her post at the Lookout of the _Success_, that there was some event on the two ships' decks, and slid down the rope to catch up with the rest of the story. Jack Sparrow had left the helm where it was, since his temporary ship was towed to the Sea Witch's vessel, it was a bit useless to hold the helm. The Pirate Lord of the Caribbean chose to recapitulate the story to the Lookout in few mumbles. Upon listening to the summary, Aequora's shocked expression was directed to the Prince of Pirates. _

_Sera, the Cook, didn't seem much surprised by this. Either she was confident in his skills to get out of trouble (though due to the fact that he didn't know her much, he most likely doubt it), either the young woman was happy that he was probably going to die on that ship they were sending him to, he never knew. _

_The__ young Pirate Prince's only clue on this mission was that it was related to a storm that was coming... and the _Flying Dutchman_, the dreadful extraordinary galleon captained by either William Turner (his father) or Davy Jones. No one really knew what had happened to Will Turner since Davy Jones was back, and this was the very reason why Elizabeth had chosen to follow the Sea's call, and to leave him, her only son, alone in __**that**__ place... _

_That island... _

"_The _Flying Dutchman_?" repeated Jack Sparrow, almost in disbelief that even someone like Captain Karen, Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Sea, would come up with such a plan. _

"_Aye, The same terrible vessel whose very ribs were cut from the bodies and souls of doomed seamen," answered Arashi, nodding as she descended her post on the Crow's Nest. "The same ship that ferries those who have died at sea to the other World, to the afterlife," she added, smiling as if she was saying something funny. _

_Jack Sparrow grimaced. The Pirate Lord had gotten an encounter with Davy Jones after all, and had had to pay his debt to the captain (since Davy Jones had given him the commands of the _Black Pearl _for thirteen years) by locking himself up in _Davy Jones' Locker_, the dreaded prison in which the forsaken captain sent the ones that refused to pay their debts to him. _

"_What's the mission?" asked James Norrington, almost concerned. _

_Samuel understood the man's worries. The ex-Admiral of the East India Trading Company had been on Davy Jones' ship once after all. He had even died on that very mossy deck... _

...No...

Who could possibly hear him in the midst of this storm? Who would have the courage to cross over the hurricane and risk the lives of his crewmembers in such poor weather conditions? As Navigators had probably all predicted at its arrival, the chances of survival in these overwhelming circumstances were around zero. Even if someone dared themselves here, who would be able to spot the little living being fighting desperately for his life against the waves that were trying to claim it?

...No indeed...

...No one would come...

_What was indeed the mission? If he had to face death to the face, to face his father's murderer, and to fight it, he would do it. After all, this was an opportunity to find out if Davy Jones had indeed replaced William Turner as the Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_, or if William Turner had stayed the master of his ship after all. In a way, Karen was doing him a favour by giving him such a punishment... _

_...on the other hand... If Davy Jones was indeed the Captain, then what would Samuel do? He would try to find William Turner for sure... and... wouldn't the _Insert Name Here_ be after him if he really got into trouble? _

_...No... _

_Karen had even refused to go to help her fellow Amazon friend, Lucy, who was also the Rig Master of their ship... Lucy had died over at the Pelegostos Island, preferring to jump over a cliff over handing herself to Cutler Beckett's right hand, Mercer, and her body had never been found, according to her assailant. Samuel had once thought that she could be the one called Sea Witch, on the _Insert Name Here_, but she had deceived him with befriending with him, and still not revealing her secrets to him. Lucy also sometimes reminded him of Elizabeth Swan, his lost mother, whom he had set sail to look for not so long ago. Even so, the former Rig Master seemed to be quite happy wherever she was, since she was still able to send them messages through dreams... If she had refused to even help a friend, the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean would never go after Samuel, whom she never considered as a friend, to help him out... would she? _

_Karen shrugged. "I have an appointment with the Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_, and Samuel is simply going to send the invitation for me," she resumed, in a tone that expressed that she found this mission easy. "Of course, if I'll enjoy the meeting if it's Will that I'm going to see," she said, smiling, "you know, to remind him of the good times when we fought side by side and all," she added, almost laughing. "And if it's Davy Jones, well, we'll see what happens, right?" she added. _

_So indeed, the Captain and her friends had known Elizabeth Swan, Jack Sparrow, Cutler Beckett, James Norrington and William Turner before... but how was that ever possible? _

_How was it possible? _

Somewhere, stuck between life and death...

A scream... engulfed into the cacophony of the sea.

"HELP!"

...only inhuman ears would be able to decipher the clamour of the waves from the human voice that was calling for help...

"_Of course, if I had gotten what I wished for, I would have opted for him hunting down that thing I lost back when we encountered the piranhas," the Captain added, __shrugging. "So be happy I chose something less... dangerous..." Karen added, glaring at Makoto, who was back at the helm now. _

_...Less dangerous ...according to who? _

"_Is there not another way?" inquired the ex-Commodore Norrington. "You have gotten your little trifle back, why punish the lad more?" he demanded, taking the Prince of Pirates' defence. "Can't you send Leanne, or Makoto herself on the _Flying Dutchman_?" he asked. "They are much more experienced in... supernatural things like this," the Pirate Lord of the Adriac Sea weighed his words carefully, apparently trying not to divulge everything that he knew to both Aequora and Samuel. _

_So even Norrington had come to think that these girls... women w__ere better than Samuel himself? _

_The young man took a step forward. _

...No one should come...

...It was simply...

"_I accept the mission." _

...Useless...

To call help at this time...

He had chosen his path after all...

...There was no time for regrets now...

...Was there?

"_As if you had a choice," commented Karen, scoffing, but smirking at the boy's sudden surge of courage. "Leanne, find the most probable location the _Flying Dutchman_ shall be heading next," the Captain ordered, heading towards her cabin now. "And don't choose a course that will lead us right in that big nasty storm, won't you?" she added, before closing the door behind her."We wouldn't want what happened to the previous _Dauntless_ to happen to our newly acquired ship now, don't we?" they could hear her mumble from the cabin where she had retreated to. _

That taken to consideration, the young man refused to surrender to the callous ocean. He fought back with all his strength, avoiding the big waves that were trying to eat him alive, avoiding to be emerged into the mass of water that was trying to annihilate him.

He could still see, not so far away from his position, the ship that had had the amiability of recruiting him, sink towards the bottom of the endless sea.

...Other than him, there were no survivors...

...How had it come to this...?

_A choice... _

_Aequora had gasped when she had heard his decision of leaving the ship and braving the _Flying Dutchman _all by himself. Jack Sparrow smiled, as if he was proud of his nephew (or very happy that he wasn't the one that was going to be sent to Davy Jones). James Norrington, from the looks of his face, couldn't believe that Samuel was willingly going. Frankly, the young prince didn't understand himself what was going to happen to him. Perhaps a few days away from Karen and her crew would help him re-center himself; find his priorities again and, perhaps his finding his father would conduce to the latter. _

The waves pitilessly washed him away from the piece of wood that had been given to him as only weapon against the stormy weather.

…Aequora…

The weather was not getting any better now. At its prisoner's thought, the storm seemed to be enraged and was attacking him from all sides, sending him as much raindrops as oversized waves to sink the young man to its bottomless pit.

_When they arrived to a certain island, the _Insert Name Here_'s Captain came out of her cabin with a wooden log, smiling at him with all her evilness. "Here, Samuel, you'll be needing this," was all she said, as she slammed it to his chest. _

"_See you later, Samuel!" waved Leanne, from where she was, on the stern. _

_The Navigator was having some fun watching Aequora (who was standing next to her now) stare into the horizon, looking for the storm that was predicted to come. Obviously, Leanne had completely gotten over the fact that Karen had not selected her for this job and was now lazily enjoying her prolonged stay on board of the _Insert Name Here_. _

"_As for the rest of your belongings, you will have to leave them aboard," Makoto added. "And if you don't trust any of us, just leave them with Aequora. She'll have the pleasure to keep them safe until you come back, and attack you with it," the Coxswain added, smirking as she pointed at their shipmate. "If you don't come back, however… well… there's nothing much to say," the Helmsmate admitted. _

_Of course, Makoto didn't really care of what would ever happen to the Prince of Pirates… _

…Aequora…

Her warm, smiling face appeared in the young man's mind all of a sudden.

_Jack Sparrow jumped aboard the _Insert Name Here_, looking for Sera, who had promised him peanuts in exchange of one use of the Captain's enchanted compass (the Cook was obviously doing this because Karen had need of the compass). "Careful with your identity, Mr. Turner," whispered the Captain of the _Black Pearl _as he passed by. _

_Why was Jack Sparrow saying something like this? Why was Samuel's identity all so important for him? And what kind of supporting words were these? _

_Of course, this was Jack… _

_There would evidently be an opportune moment for Samuel to understand this Pirate Lord's words… _

…Like the light of a lighthouse in the middle of the night…

_Norrington also had some encouragement for the young man because he also hopped on the Sea Witch's ship's deck and shook hands with the Prince of Pirates. He smiled reassuringly. "Whoever you really are, I am sure that you won't have the same ending as I had," he started saying. "Just be careful of the Captain and his crewmembers. They are pirates after all," the ex-Commodore added in a whisper. _

"_Sure thing," nodded Samuel, happy that Norrington had finally accepted his presence among his acquaintances. _

…like a light of hope…

_It was Arashi's turn to say something. She approached him, and simply punched him in the stomach as a symbol of luck or something. He wasn't sure how to interpret this, but he heard Aequora's gasp, and the others' chuckle. _

"_Don't worry, death is not that bad," the Lookout smirked as she said this. _

_How could she know? Was she saying this because, to confirm his theory, she had indeed died once before with her friends? Was she trying to reassure him? _

"HELP!"

"_Are you ready to leave now, Mister Turner?" inquired Karen, as the young man saw the storm coming at the horizon. "Here is the letter and the special cloak that you will be wearing during this mission. Remember: if you read the letter, you are dead," the Pirate Lord warned. _

_This cape was the one that they had lent him before. He wondered why Makoto and the others insisted on him wearing their trademark clothing when their identities were not compromised since they wouldn't be the ones braving the sea men and their captain. _

…a flickering hope…

_The young man wore it and put the __envelope in the inside pocket of the clothing. _

"_Good, the cape is waterproof, so even if you swim with it, the letter won't be wet," Makoto nodded proudly, as if she had been the one designing it. _

_Was Aequora going to say something to him, as a goodbye? Was she even going to do such a thing? After all, she had been pretty... weird around him since... recently... but he was still her shipmate... would she give him a proper goodbye? Everyone had… He let the bag he always carried preciously with him right next to the young woman that he had chosen, not sure whether he should greet her, or not. _

"_Excellent, you are ready," declared Karen. _

_They were getting closer now to the storm now. Raindrops started to fall on the ship. _

"_What am I supposed to do now?" he demanded. _

"_Survive." And with this simple word, the Captain pushed him over board, into the already stormy waters of the sea. _

"_What?!" exclaimed the young man, clinging on his piece of wood so he wouldn't get submerged by the waves. _

"_Just survive until someone comes to fetch you. We'll be waiting for you at Helga's pub!" announced Leanne, waving at him from where she was. _

Survive was something easy to say…

_He had not been able to tell Aequora that… _

Indeed, the Pirate Prince had waited for someone to come to his help, like they had told him to. A Spanish ship had come to his rescue, but almost immediately, they were flooded by the powerful ocean, and once again, the young Prince of Pirates was left in the middle of the dangerous sea, with his log.

What was the next step of Karen's plan now?

If he died now, all his hopes of finding his mother and father were gone.

"_Samuel, remember…" _

A voice.

"_Samuel, remember that you won't ever be alone," said Elizabeth Swan as she kissed her precious son's forehead, before leaving the small house they had lived in for more than a decade. "Keep a weather eye on the horizon, my son," she added, looking behind him, to the window that had a view to the ocean. "Remember that we__'ll always love you. And we'll come back, for sure." _

A voice, engulfed into the noise made by the sea, was heard briefly.

"_The King and his men, _

_stole the Queen from her bed, _

_And bound her in her Bones. _

_The Seas be ours _

_And by the Power _

_Where we will we'll roam." _

A promise… A promise to return… and because of that, Samuel just had to come back to **that** place, along with his family.

"MAN OVERBOARD!"

Was the sea mocking him? Was this an audible hallucination or something? This was exactly what the Captain (or someone else onboard) had said.

And they had pulled him on board, asking him what was left of his crew (they all assumed that he came from a ship since they found him in the middle of the ocean). He told them there was no one left (because indeed, Karen and the others had abandoned him here, but this, he avoided mentioning). Unfortunately, these nice men were also attacked by the heartless ocean, as they were scanning the area for some sign of life from the boy's presumed to be sunken ship, and their ship sank, leaving no survivors this time, but the youngster, who was lucky enough to return to his original space, with the mission of surviving until something comes.

The young man clutched to his piece of wood, not sure whether to believe this shout, and later be deceived by the hard reality, or to take this as a hallucination and perhaps let his only chance to be rescued fly away.

"HAUL HIM ABOARD BOYS!" commanded a voice that sounded familiar.

And yet, all voices appeared familiar in the rain... The young man suddenly felt like something was pulling him away from the safety provided by his little log. Perhaps this was the wind, blowing him away from his spot, or it was, indeed, someone who had taken pity of him and was welcoming him aboard his or her ship. He was still in a daze when he was thrown on the safe and regularly steady wooden deck of a ship, and when he automatically took a grip of the piece of cloth that had been handed to him to provide him some warmth.

"Welcome aboard, Lad!" chuckled a voice that seemed quite familiar to the young Pirate Prince, and yet, he had never heard such a voice before.

The young man looked around himself, at first, trembling from the adventure that he had just been rescued from. The galleon which had pitied him was simply huge (just like any ship of this kind) and was also pretty mossy, dirty by the years spent at sea. It had to be armed with around forty cannons at least, from what the young man could see from where he was. There was, on the deck, something that was the souvenir of Davy Jones' stay on the ship: the Kraken Hammer that he used to call his pet from the deep ocean. The ship's bow was covered with moss and holes (serving as windows) that looked like open mouths with pointed teeth. The deck was adorned with wooden statues of numerous beasts.

...The _Flying Dutchman_...

The few shipmates that were onboard of the _Flying Dutchman_ had decided to go downstairs and mind their business', so the young man's wet eyes had not been able to catch their expressions, or if they were Human or Seamen. The man that had talked to him was obviously the Coxswain, not wearing a Captain's tricorn hat or coat, but still holding the helm. He was Human all right, but the young Pirate Prince wasn't sure how to interpret this. Perhaps the men had not been accustomed to the sea enough to transform into the worthy seamen of Davy Jones... or this meant that Davy Jones was not the Captain of this ship (the _Flying Dutchman_ needed a Captain, but there could not be two Captains commandeering the _Flying Dutchman_, it was something that was inconceivable!) was actually his father.

...William Turner...

...His father...

He had only had the chance to see William Turner once, and yet, that day had been so… confusing… that he could not even remember the features of his father's face. And yet, Samuel had the feeling that he would recognize whether the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain was his mother's beloved Pirate or not.

…And this man holding the helm, maintaining the _Dutchman_ at the surface was definitely not his father…

"This darn storm is going to stop soon, lad, and we'll find you a ship soon enough," the Helmsmate added, as he caught the young Prince of Pirates' stare on him, chuckling when he saw the young man, startled by his elder's quick thinking. "In the meantime, can you tell me your name, mate? I'm not going to call you 'boy' all your time here," he added.

The man was as old, it seemed, as Jack Sparrow himself, wearing a black bandana over his dark looking hair, and his skin was white from being at sea for too long. It was a weird thing that this man's voice seemed familiar to him, since Samuel had never seen him before, and this man didn't have any feature known to him at all.

"…I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…"

Not that he had not disobeyed this rule before, but somehow, this was the only thing that came out of the stunned Samuel at that exact moment.

"Indeed you shouldn't. So I'm going to tell you my name. I'm Bill, but I'm more known as 'Bootstrap' out here, actually," the Helmsmate added, stretching his hand over towards the young man, shaking the Prince's vigorously. "I'm not quite in the stranger category anymore, am I? What about you? Who are you?"

'Bootstrap' Bill Turner, formally known as William Turner! This was his grandfather! No wonder why this man's voice seemed so oddly familiar to him! Elizabeth Swan had met this man once, and he was transforming into a seaman (and had gone crazy in the process, but ever since the curse had been lifted, he had come to his senses), and was becoming more part of the ship than he was now. Thanks to William Turner lifting the curse by claiming his place as the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain, Bootstrap Bill Turner had been saved from the punishment he had been given by the previous Captain, Davy Jones. But... if this was Bootstrap Bill, then his father must have been the Captain of the _Flying Dutchman _still!

"Turner," the young man blundered out loud, in his surprise, and suddenly, the Captain's first mate gasped, staring at the young man as if he had said a blasphemy. "Samuel Turner," he added quickly, as if to rectify a mistake he had committed without knowing it, getting a bit closer to the man to get a better look at him.

Bootstrap Bill Turner got closer to his grandson as well, squinting his eyes to study the young man's features. "You..." he was about to say something, pointing his index at the young Pirate Prince, but stopped in the middle of his sentence, as if unsure of what he was even going to say.

Samuel Turner held his breath, silent. Had former William Turner Senior recognized him already? This was bad... what if he ratted the Prince of Pirates out to the Captain? Where was his father? Would William Turner recognize his son even though he had only seen him once? Would his father welcome him if he knew who he was? Would his grandfather recognize him, even though he had never met him?

"There are many Turners. It's a common name," he shook his head, as if talking to himself as he returned to his helm. Bootstrap Bill Turner was saying this not as if he was surprised to hear someone bear the same name as him, but as if he was unhappy with someone bearing this name. "It would be impossible..." Then, he turned to Samuel again, without a smile on his face. "Are you... blood-related to me?" he asked, as if feeling ashamed that he had to ask such a question to a young stranger.

Samuel did not know what to answer.

It was a weird question to ask a stranger... but... What would the young man's answer be? What if he answered with a 'yes'? His grandfather seemed to disapprove his great resemblance to William Turner Junior... and what if it was important for him to stay incognito? Even Jack Sparrow had preferred Samuel to be a stranger to Barbossa and the Pirate community. Was this something that he should do?

Was he, then, to lie to his grandfather the first time the young Pirate Prince actually gets to meet him?

"Not that I know of," he decided to reply, stepping away from the old man's piercing gaze. "D-Do you know where the Captain is? I have to talk to him," he explained, bluntly, ashamed that he had to lie to his grandfather, and not quite sure if he should mention Karen's name here.

"Do you even know what ship you're on exactly, Turner?" he asked, chuckling. "_The Flying Dutchman_, lad," Bootstrap answered, when the young man shook his head. "Why would you need to talk to the Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_, lad?" he demanded. "You're not sayin' that you purposely threw yourself at sea with that tiny piece of wood to find our Captain?" he laughed at his own joke, as they emerged from the troublesome storm.

Samuel chuckled nervously. His grandfather had guessed right; he had indeed 'been thrown' into the stormy sea to find the _Flying Dutchman_, even though it wasn't his fault. He didn't know how to explain his presence on the ship, nevertheless, without revealing his true identity. Would the best way for him to make clear his existence on this ship to improvise, just like Jack Sparrow often seemed to do? Either it was Captain Davy Jones or William Turner himself, Samuel chose not to take notice of. He had a mission he had to finish, and it wasn't the identity of the captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ or the contents of the letter, signed by Captain Karen herself, the oddest Pirate Lord of the Brethren Court, he was carrying around with him that was going to stop him.

Bill Turner's smile returned when his assumptions were proven false. "Anyways, Capt'n will come back as soon as his meeting with Lord Cutler Beckett is over, why?"

"I have a message for my Captain," he answered quickly, not knowing what to reply at first, thinking of Karen as a temporary Captain at that moment. "I won't leave unless I deliver it in person," he added, in case the man intended on kicking him off of the ship.

The old man shrugged, chortling. "So you have been thrown at this time at sea to deliver this message, of your Captain's? This person must be a... Pirate..." he noted, not minding at all of Captain Karen's customs, and observed that the young man didn't seem to want to talk about it. "As you wish, Master Turner, but while you're at it, won't you mop the _Dutchman_'s deck for me? Travels from this world to another sure are dirty," he added, turning the helm a bit. "And don't mind the star fishes," he added.

Samuel obeyed. As long as he was promised that he could see his father (or Davy Jones) and that he was assured he wouldn't die anytime soon, he was happy. He mopped the floor as the Coxswain led the _Flying Dutchman_ towards a ship in the middle of the calm ocean. The ship, the Pirate Prince could clearly see from where they were, was without a doubt from the East India Trading Company! Come to think of it, if the Captain was meeting with Beckett, then this meant that it was Davy Jones, didn't it? Since Davy Jones had had a pact with Beckett before, and that he had been revived by Melusina...

No... This meant nothing...

There was still hope that William Turner was the one that would return on the _Flying Dutchman_... from his meeting with Beckett? Why would he even hold a meeting with Beckett?

"The Captain's coming, lad," Bootstrap announced, from the helm, "and the deck better be clean when he sets foot on his ship! Get ready, mateys!"

The young man, thinking that Davy Jones (at worst, he was the Captain!) might have something against him, just like Beckett, Mercer and Barbossa already had, hood himself and decided to keep his promise of keeping himself hidden from the rest of the crew and the other people that might compromise him and his friends (unfortunately, this **golden law **also applied to his father, William Turner, anyways). When he finished putting the mop and bucket where he had found it, the Captain had already made an entrance on his now clean domain.

The man was tall, no doubt for that, and was wearing the same sort of dark clothing that most of Captains had; dirty shirts, black trousers, a black bandana that was covering his dark brown hair, curtsey of his father, Bootstrap Bill Turner. His mid-length dark brown hair was attached, as in the fashion nowadays, behind his head, and he was also proudly holding his cutlass in a sheath by his side. His acute brown eyes immediately landed on Samuel.

The Pirate Prince gasped upon recognizing this Captain.

...He had not changed over the years...

"I don't reckon hiring you on my ship, lad," William Turner started, pointing at the young man wearing a hood. "Who are you?" he insisted, but the young stunned man wasn't able to recover his tongue. "Who is he?"

"Samuel, his name. Stuck in the storm, so we saved 'm," answered Bootstrap Bill Turner. "The other souls are ready to be transported to the Other World, by the way," the Coxswain added. "Oh yeah, says he wants to speak to you in private, Capt'n," the shipmate added, as he took his place at the helm once again. "Where are we headed, Captain Turner?" he added.

"To the nearest port. This young man is not ready to sail to the Other World yet, I believe," William Turner decided. "And the men are demanding rum," he added with humour. "I will suggest that you follow me in my cabin then, if you have something to tell me," Samuel's father proposed, leading the way immediately.

The young Pirate Prince obeyed and, still keeping his hood on, closed the door behind him.

"First of all, who are you, exactly, Samuel?" he asked, sitting on the bench of a reed organ that had been in Davy Jones' possession back in the days when he was still the Captain of this ship. "I hope that you are not who I think you are, because if you are, then you will be sorry for showing yourself in front of me," William Turner stated, unsheathing his sword. "I've been practicing a lot lately, for a day like this," he added, examining the blade dreamily.

What kind of a reaction was this? William Turner Junior seemed angry when he said this. Was he going to kill the lad if he gave the wrong answer? Had the young man been discovered? Was Samuel who Will thought he was? Was William thinking that this was his son, showing himself in front of him? Was the Captain angry that his son had dared disobey him and Elizabeth Swan, answered to the call of the sea and... risked his life for something as stupid as to deliver a message? If these assumptions were exact, what should Samuel answer?

"I'm just... a shipmate on the _Insert Name Here_'s ship, sent by Captain Karen, the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean, to deliver a message," he replied, trying to mask his voice as he could, and trying not to think of running to hug his father. It was a good thing that his father had no idea of his family name, or else, William Turner would surely make the connection between him and the son he had only seen once in his lifetime.

"Karen? She's back!?" suddenly smiled William Turner. "Does this mean that the others are there too? Tell me who came back with her," he said, sheathing his cutlass. "What is it that she wants to give me?"

Samuel couldn't help but feel a bit jealous as he gave the envelope to the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain. It seemed that William Turner was happier to hear of Karen's news than of Samuel's! However, this helped keeping a low profile in front of his own father. "Sera, Arashi, Makoto, a girl named Aequora are on the same ship right now," he started enumerating, but the Captain of this ship interrupted him in his thoughts.

"Wait, I don't know this Aequora girl... where did Lucy go to?"

William Turner even remembered Lucy! No doubt, the Captain, Jack Sparrow, James Norrington, Cutler Beckett and Elizabeth Swan most probably (and who else that the young Pirate Prince didn't know of?) had already met Karen's crew before and something had separated them and...

...And William Turner definitely seemed a lot more happier to have news of Karen and her friends than to find Samuel, his own son, on his ship! Luckily, thanks to Karen's name, Captain Turner had forgotten to assure himself that Samuel was indeed his son.

...and yet, what would have been Will's reaction if Samuel un-hood himself? What if he saw that they had the same kind of face? The same kind of expression?

"We've managed to find Jack Sparrow, who was fleeing from the Brethren Court once again, and James Norrington, who was revived from the dead by Melusina," he added, not without noticing the VERY subtle grimace that his father made when hearing James' name. "The ex-Commodore is one of the Pirate Lords though," he added quickly, taking the Englishman's defence.

"I'm not surprised to hear of Jack's news," commented the young man's father, not letting his feelings for Norrington appear on his face. "Who are missing in the Brethren Court right now?" he asked, still holding the letter in from of him and reading it, not taking a look at his son anymore.

At least he was able to conserve his anonymity...!

And yet, it was hard to keep it, because he was fighting every moment not to tell his father that he was his son.

"Now, the only Pirate Lords missing are mothe-- I mean, Elizabeth Swan, our Pirate King, and some other dude, the successor of Ammand the Corsair, or Ammand himself," he added, and he distinctively saw the man's mood change again, his eyes looking depressed when Samuel named his mother in the conversation.

This reaction showed that Captain Turner seemed to know something about the Pirate King that Samuel didn't know... but what?

"I see..." commented Will, putting the letter in one of his pockets as he stood up. "Well, it's a good thing that you delivered this to me, Samuel," he smiled when he said this, putting a proud hand on his son's shoulder. "Karen gave me specific location to where to drop you off," the Captain added, leading him towards the door of the cabin. "And she also put specific directives as to where to keep you during your stay here," he continued, closing the door behind him. "Mateys! Let's welcome our new lad, Samuel by putting him in the brig until we reach port!" William Turner announced.

"WHAT?!" protested the young man, but no doubt, this was Karen's evil plan.

And suddenly, the young Pirate Prince was taken downstairs.

...would William Turner have obeyed Karen's orders if he knew that Samuel was his son?

"No hard feelings, ey, Samuel? Karen's will is our command, but you know that already, don't you?" he whispered, winking at him.

**This****, he knew all right...**

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it, and... **

**See you next month, I hope...!  
**


	19. Chapter 18:Nobodymove I dropped me brain

**The Purple Moon **

**Part 18****: Nobody move! I dropped me brain **

By: CrystallicPrincess

**Happy Birthday, Friend (my friend's birthday is this saturday, but due to me losing to a bet, I'm kind of 'forced' to post this part a little earlier than I have planned)!  
Please don't laugh, I love the title of this part (and I really suck with bargains)!  
I hope you'll all enjoy this new part, and will find the meaning of the part's title :D**

* * *

"_Samuel! Samuel Turner!!" called out William Turner, smiling happily, like he used to, and opening his arms as he descended the stairs leading to the brig where his son had been placed into. "My boy! Come here!" he invited, opening the door of the ship's jail. The man, whose sudden arrival had woken Samuel up, ran into the little prison and embraced his offspring with his arms. _

Truth be it, Samuel had never thought that the first time he would meet his father in all these years would end up in the dreaded brig of the _Flying Dutchman_.

"_D-Dad!" realized the young Pirate Lord, accepting his father's arms around him, feeling like he was a child once again, hugging the parent he had never been able to hug before. "I'm glad I found you," he admitted, even though he didn't know how William Turner had come to know who he really was, since before even coming downstairs, the Captain had never even seen his face. _

_Elizabeth Swan had often told him how she dreamed of seeing her son and William Turner hug each other like this... or, even meet, after what happened __**that**__ day... If only she could see their meeting now... _

_...Come to think of it, did the Captain know something that he didn't regarding his mother? _

"Stupid Karen..." he mumbled, as he sat up from the mossy bench on which he had decided to sleep for a while until someone finally decided to tell him what was going on, something that everyone seemed very reluctant to do nowadays. "I should have read that stupid letter," he added to himself, wondering what Karen had commanded the mighty Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_ to do with the young Pirate Prince.

If he had read the letter before coming, he would have known what Karen had told Will in her letter, and he would have known that she intended to send him to the brig and to the nearest port. Was she going to come back to fetch him afterwards? NO! She was planning on ditching him there, on that island! She was a Pirate after all, one of the powerful Pirate Lords, and she had proved to him countless times before that behind her bubbly and greedy personality was a fearsome Pirate.

How he had hoped that his second meeting with his father would have been different...

"_Come, your mother will rejoice when seeing you," suggested the Captain, leading the boy out of the brig now. _

_How exhilarating this feeling was, not to be trapped inside a cell, full of disgusting bottle green squishy yet sticky moisture, left out, anymore, added to the fact that he was freed by his own father, and that they were going to have some father-son bonding time... _

_...what did father-son bonding time meant? _

"_Wait...!" the young man objected, yanking his hand out of his father's grasp. _

Oh wait indeed. This didn't make any sense with the reaction the Captain of the _Dutchman_ had had when the Pirate Prince had mentioned his mother's name. Something had happened, something bad had happened to Elizabeth Swan, and perhaps William Turner knew this... and perhaps this is why he had seemed so sad when being reminded this by a mere stranger.

"_D-Dad! I'm glad I found you," he admitted, closing his eyes in pleasure for finally being accepted by his father, and his childhood dream of being held in his father's arms being finally fulfilled. "I have to tell you, Dad! Mom went to look for you, she was worried sick when she found out that Davy Jones and Beckett were back... and... Where is she?" he started saying, but William Turner interrupted him. _

"_I know. I know what's happening. Didn't your grandfather tell you where I was? I was on Beckett's ship," he added quickly, just in case his son had forgotten, "asking him if he had seen your mother," answered the Captain, and by the looks on the man's face, Samuel guessed that this encounter did NOT turn out so well... _

"_Are you surprised? It's Beckett you're talking about after all..." grumbled the young man, remembering that Beckett was capturing all the pirates and people related to piracy to give them the death penalty. Beckett had also done something VERY wrong to Aequora's mother, and something that hurt his friend was a direct insult to him... Samuel was getting mad with even remembering what Beckett had done in order to obtain the power to rid the world of pirates. "So you know where she is...?!" exclaimed the young man, interested in his father's freshly gathered information. "Great! We can tell the _Insert Name Here_ and we'll be able to track her down and save her from..." _

"_It's not somewhere you can be easily saved from, Samuel..." cut his dad once again, looking all sad. _

_Elizabeth Swan, even though it was probably Samuel's hot topic for the moment, apparently was his father's most painful subject of conversation... Perhaps it was time to change subject... _

Stop. Samuel did not know what was coming up... and he didn't know what his father was talking about.

"_D-Dad! I'm glad I found you," he admitted, opening his eyes to memorize all the features of William Turner's unchanged face. "But did you lock me here on purpose? Or was it really Karen who told you to...?" _

"_Karen really seems to hold a grudge on you, doesn't she? What in the world did you do to her to make her so angry at you, I wonder..." answered his father, suddenly chuckling. "She did tell me to lock you up in here--" _

"_Did she know that you were my dad? How did you find out who I was?!" asked the young man, suddenly curious about these topics, and suddenly aware that he had never shown his face to this man before he had come downstairs. In truth, everything was spinning in his head. He didn't know what to ask first anymore, and the questions just kept coming in masses as he asked one. "Even Grandpa didn't realize... and he saw my face..." _

"_How can I not recognize my son's voice?" answered the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain, patting his son's shoulder. "And yes, the girls do know who you are. It's the Sea Witch's ship's crew we're talking about after all..." _

Wait. Was this true? Would William Turner do and/or say something like this?

"_B-But how does she know who I am?" Samuel wondered aloud, ashamed that he had not been able to keep his identity secret from the weirdest pirates of all the seven seas, and even more ashamed that his father had been there to realize that his son had been travelling all over the world with this lack of subtlety. _

"_You haven't been with Karen and her friends long enough..." diagnosed his father, after staring at him for a second. "And trust me, perhaps it's best you don't." _

What did Will Turner mean by saying that? And suddenly, it clicked. Bugger.

"_Wait, so you mean that you've already met them before?" inquired the youngster, as William Turner dragged him out of the tiny cell he had been put into by the seamen. "Just like Norrington, Jack, Mom and Beckett?" he added. _

_The outside world now, after the storm had moved on, was much clearer now. It was easier to breathe in the scent of the suddenly harmless sea, and a lot better than when he was being swayed by the sea at all moment. This type of environment also helped the young man clear his mind and 'digest' what he had just learned and get ready for the information that was coming. _

_William Turner Junior laughed as he patted Bootstrap Bill Turner's shoulder. The Helmsmate didn't seem to understand what the Captain was talking about to his grandson, but still chuckled as well. "Tortuga, Mister Turner," the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain whispered to his First Mate's ear, in a joyful tone, and he came back to his offspring. "Met them? We fought together!" _

Wait. That did not make any sense at all...!

"_Fought?! How could you have? They are of my age! And I wasn't even born back then! When you and the girls met, they weren't even able to hold a cutlass!" the young Prince of Pirates protested, not without feeling a little envious that his _Insert Name Here _friends, as crazy as they were, had had the honor to fight alongside with the mighty Captain and that he hadn't even had the chance before. _

_His father led him into his cabin once again, but this time, he did not threaten him with his sword, letting him sit in front of him before he took his own seat, in front of that reed organ of Davy Jones'. "Not when I met them!" replied the Captain, chuckling as he looked out the window, as if he was remembered the times when the girls and he 'fought' together, as he affirmed. _

"_B-b-but... You aren't supposed to have met them before...!" he repeated, more to himself than to his daydreaming father. _

_His father's attention reverted back to the young Pirate Prince, raising his eyebrows as if surprised of what Samuel was implying. "Oh! Is Samuel Turner being jealous?" he asked, most probably to tease his son. _

_In truth, the Captain in all probability was right... _

_...after all, this was his father...! _

...but... in any case, this was not getting any more sense... This actually made sense for the fact that James Norrington, Jack Sparrow and Lord Cutler Beckett seemed to know the _Insert Name Here_'s crew so well. But... it mostly didn't explain why neither Elizabeth Swan, nor Joshamee Gibbs (whom he was still avoiding at all costs, just in case), nor William Turner junior had never told him any stories about Leanne, Makoto, Sera, Lucy, Arashi and Karen in their adventures before Samuel himself had even met them.

"_Anyways, Samuel," continued the Captain, as if to break the awkward silence. "I could have met them way after the events of _**that**_ day, right?" pointed out William Turner, chuckling as his son snapped out of his sudden confusion. _

This was definitely true... and the fact that he had never even thought of something like this before made him feel even more ashamed of himself. The young man shook his head and concentrated once again.

"_Right, sorry about that... I got carried away and I jumped to conclusions, I guess..." he decided to say. "How did you guys meet?" Samuel wondered, interested. How in the world would Karen and the others have encountered William Turner, the Captain of the _Flying Dutchman_? Against whom did they fight together? "Did you fight against each other, or with each other? Against who did you guys fight?" he added, not even sure if he was making any sense anymore. _

"_It's a long story," started the father to his son, obviously as an excuse to avoid the subject. _

_What was William Turner hiding from Samuel exactly? Was Karen and her friends' past so heavy to bear that even mentioning it was impossible? Had Karen commanded Will to keep their real identities secret or something? Did William Turner know who the real Sea Witch was among them? "I don't mind long stories..." he replied, curious. _

As a matter of fact, he loved long stories, for it reminded him the time when his mother and he were still residents of _**that**_ dreadful place... and when the Pirate King would just sit on a chair next to his bed, lay him on his bed sheets and tell him bedtime stories about how she had met William Turner. He knew these stories by heart.

"_Anyways, before I start telling you my story, shouldn't you tell me yours, Samuel?" suggested William Turner. "So, met any girls you like? I hope she's no pirate," he quickly added, quite overprotective of his son's frequentation. "From the looks on your face, you met one, right?" insisted his father, smiling when he saw the outraged look on Samuel's face. "Tell me everything." _

Clever sense of diverting one's attention, but Samuel caught it. Really, the Captain had no intention of telling him his story... What was there to hide, exactly, unless he had been lying about meeting them not long after _**that**_ day...? The young man obeyed his father, and made him promise to tell him everything about Karen and her mysterious friends after his story.

"_So... you met Jack, I see..." commented William Turner, not even sure if he should approve of his friend's influence on Samuel anymore after he had heard what the _Pearl_'s Captain had done to his son. "This Amazonian Princess you told me of, she seems pretty nice," added the Captain, thoughtfully, and he was right, Penthelamia was quite nice, she didn't hit him with his own bag when he wasn't ready. "And... This Aequora girl also, seems quite..." he went on, but never finished his sentence, because suddenly due to this silence, after Will had said this, Samuel felt the instant need of justifying himself. _

"_Sh-She's just a friend," blurted out the young man. _

"_It's good she is, Samuel," smirked Will. "And... you say that Lucy fell to Mercer? That's why you looked so down when I mentioned her name earlier..." added the man, in sincere incredulity. "Are you sure that you saw her fall off the cliff? No signs of her? Karen and the others didn't come back to investigate or anything?" he bombarded his son with questions regarding his first lost shipmate. "Have you seen her anytime after the accident? Silly question to ask, I know, but you never know, when it comes to Karen and her friends," commented the Captain. _

_The young man felt like he understood what his father meant... However, he felt like it was silly to answer something like this... but... "Well... she did appear in one of my dreams, and told us a very weird story..." answered the youngster, looking at his feet. He wasn't even sure if this was the fruit of his fever or if it was indeed true. After all, he hadn't had the time to ask Aequora if she had gotten the same dream as him before leaving... Perhaps this meant nothing at all... "She said that she wanted to talk to me later, too. So I guess she might appear in my dreams again. She looked fine to me in that dream, so I guess wherever she is, she must be at peace..." the young man said, painfully thinking of this and also feeling ashamed of admitting some disillusion to his father. _

Bugger! Bugger! Rectification.

"_No doubt, the _Insert Name Here_'s Rig Master's at peace." _

_William Turner's gaze turned towards the window once again, and they were arriving to Tortuga, as he could already see the tiny piece of land in the middle of the sea. "That's good." was all he had to say. "Say, you're becoming a Pirate yourself, aren't you, Samuel?" he remarked, sending his son a pleased look. _

"_What?" _

"_You're well on your way of becoming one," the man repeated, much to the Prince of Pirate's delight. "You remind me of when I was about your age, I sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Navy, sailed with a buccaneer, whom you mostly know as Jack Sparrow, crew out of Tortuga, and I was obsessed with a treasure..." he started saying. And Samuel knew that this was what Jack Sparrow had told him once, referring to Elizabeth Swan when the buccaneer said 'treasure'. "You didn't free a man from jail, right, and you didn't commandeer one of the East India Trading Company's ships, but you destroyed one, and stole one. You sailed with Jack Sparrow as well, to Shipwreck Cove, all Pirates' heaven. You're also obsessed with a treasure, Samuel." _

_Samuel took a hold of his cloak, to where his bag used to be. When William Turner had said the word treasure, the image of Aequora showing him Karen's Treasure Room showed up in the boy's mind. It hurt him a bit. This was back when Aequora was still nice to him, despite the fact that she hated men. "I'm not obsessed with any treasure." _

_William Turner stared in the horizon for a minute, smiling as if he knew something that his son could not comprehend at his age. "Let me tell something Jack told me when I sailed with him for the first time: 'not all treasure is silver and gold, mate'," he said, leaning over towards his son. _

Triple Bugger.

"_A-Aequora's just a friend!" he repeated, looking outside once again, and seeing that they were arriving at Tortuga. Why had Karen told the _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain to go there, and dump him there, if she would have trouble finding him in all the crowd of Pirates that were cowering in there? _

"_I wasn't referring to anyone in particular," remarked the Captain, arquing an eyebrow, "but now that you mention it..." _

That most likely didn't help. Bugger. Samuel kicked the door in disbelief. Even in a place like this, Samuel felt like he had been cornered. But what had he to say? Aequora was indeed just a friend of his (until she hostilely sent his bag flying in his face, that is).

"_I... don't think that your mother would approve," suddenly said William Turner. _

"_What? Why?" _

"_Think about it, Samuel, after what happened, I can't say that losing her son is something she would want to occur again..." _

**It had been his fault all along, though... **

Rewind.

"_Aequora's a pirate..." he commented. "She hates Beckett and she's quite helpful too." Was that why William Turner thought that Elizabeth Swan would not approve of Aequora as being his friend? Then why didn't Will comment about Lucy and the others being his friends? They were also female pirates! _

_Wait. More importantly, why did Samuel care so much about what his father thought about his friends? Samuel wouldn't have said anything when William Turner made a deal with buccaneer Jack Sparrow... why was his father so... concerned? Will was a pirate as well, he should be able to understand Samuel's situation... no? _

"_So what?" _

This caught the young man off-guard. So what indeed? What if she was a pirate? Why had he thought of her when his father had talked about treasure? Why was his face all red all of a sudden? He didn't know what to think anymore...

"_Ahh... I don't know..." _

The young man sat down once again on the hard and cold bench that served as a bed for the prisoners and dug his head into his hands, as if to keep all his ideas and questions from flowing out from his mind. It was a good thing indeed that he was the only one in there at the moment. Sharing was not on the list of things he was ready to do right now...

"_I don't know what to think anymore..." he admitted to himself. _

"Samuel, you rascal!" screamed a familiar voice, as its owner descended the stairs that would lead him to the brig, where Samuel was still stacking. Jack Sparrow appeared right next to Arashi, who was studying the green moss-like wood around the brig and grimacing at the green moisture in disgust.

"You didn't tell me you enjoyed the brigs this much," noted Makoto, appearing from behind, with a tone that indicated that she would take this new concept to Karen.

Oh great...

"_Then until you do, return to your cell, lad!" _

_Geez... What kind of punishment was this? What was everyone's deal, with cells, brigs and jails? _

_His father smiled with affection, ruffling his hair before he left. "I'm glad you didn't lose your brain in the brig," William Turner pointed out. _

The images vanished out of his head, as if this brutal arrival had disrupted his imagination.

'_Losing my brain here?_' he wondered, chuckling when Elizabeth had told him about how Jack had had hallucinations of clones of himself, which she could not see, but that Jack later unconsciously admitted to her.

...Just great...!

"Why the long face, lad? We've come to rescue ye," remarked Jack, as he pulled out of his dirty sleeves the key that would unlock the brig. "You'd rather be stuck there by yourself?" the Captain continued, as Samuel had difficulties answering his questions and observations, handing the keys to the Coxswain, who seemed to know a lot more in locks than he did, or something. "Fine by me!" he commented, shrugging. "If you need me, I'll be in the Captain's cabin!"

'_Hallucinations again?_'

"I'll come too! I want to know why Karen wanted to come here!" suddenly decided Makoto, throwing the keys inside the dirty jail. "You coming, Arashi?" she also added, turning around before climbing the stairs. "Jack's not getting all the fun without us!" she announced, determined into barging into Karen's conversation with William Turner.

'_Geez, what kind of... friends are these?_'

They let him rot on a piece of wood and drown in the sea. They punish him by attaching him to the mast and NOT feeding him for two days... They further on punished him by sending him to meet his father and the first thing that William Turner did to his son was to lock him up in the brig!

'_Oh, right. Pirates..._'

Stupid questions, stupid answers...

Samuel tried to get a hold of the keys before they landed on a puddle of mud, in vain. "It can't get any worse, can it?" he asked himself. The Prince of Pirates debated whether he wished to go outside or... '_Is there even an 'or'?_' the young man asked himself, but before he had the time to answer to his question, he dug his fingers into the slimy green substance and fetched the keys, slipped them into the keyhole and freed himself without any further help. The young man rushed after his shipmates.

'_No hallucinations...! I'M FREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_'

"Wait for me, guys!"

When he finally arrived at the opened door of the cabin, he was pushed outside by Arashi, who was just getting out. "What took you so long?" she asked, as unemotional as ever. "Come on, we have to take our shift on the _Insert Name Here_ before Leanne puts the ship on fire in her excitement of seeing Will again..." she added, dragging him away from his father's cabin.

"B-b-b-but...! NO, I wanted to...!"

The outside air, without being filtered by the moss that constantly reigned under their feet in this ship, was just as he had imagined... pure... and... salty! The young man could almost smile at this thought, and then, ask himself as much questions as could be. How long had he stayed in the brig? How long had he been without eating? How long had he...? Where were they?! From the looks of it, by judging from the islands, the tropical, warm looking and light blue waters, the young man could guess that they were still in the Caribbean waters, but how far were they from shore, from any one of the locations he was familiar with? He had no idea. But the island behind the three ships was definitely NOT Tortuga, and it was NOT Cross Island either. The _Insert Name Here_, and towed to her was the _Success_, was there, steady right next to the _Flying Dutchman_.

"No buts! Karen said that as soon as you get out of the brig, you have to work on mopping the deck, it's been quite lonely while you were gone, and needs an expert like you to clean it up! And Karen's orders are orders!" commanded Sera, coming on the ship's deck with her bowl of mixture. "Oh yeah, hello by the way, Samuel! How was it?"

The Cook's reaction to his return was... abnormal, just like the others'! Sera and her friends were treating him as if he had just gone for a trip to Helga's Tavern to get a drink, which did NOT involve any SUPER DANGEROUS STORM and the delivery of a simple letter that told William Turner that Samuel needed to be taught a lesson (as a matter of fact, was it really what the letter said about him, or was there something worse?). Leanne jumped on the _Flying Dutchman_'s deck as soon as she spotted the young Pirate Prince starting to mop the floor.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Samuel!" she repeatedly said to him before she slammed the cabin's door shut. "Thanks a lot to you too, Arashi! I'll tell you everything that you missed, I promise!!!" she added before disappearing, as the unemotional girl was climbing up to the Crow's Nest.

The _Insert Name Here_'s deck looked WORSE than he had left it! The wooden floor was like the swamp that surrounded Acerbotis' house. Mumbling and swearing under his breath (but really, could he be ungrateful? No, because Karen and her friends had provided him a ship (sort of), and had fed him (sort of) during all this time, and all they demanded in return was mopping the deck and risking his life for trivial matters...), the young man decided to start mopping the floor before Karen came out of that bloody cabin with his father and everyone who knew something he seemed not to know, and started deeply regretting the fact that he had hidden his own identity from both his father and his grand-father. How dared he? If Samuel had told them who he really was (would they even believe him?), the young man wouldn't have to scrub the floor to Karen's content, to be locked up in his father's ship's brig! He didn't deserve this! He hadn't done anything wrong (except sailing off on his own and, at the same time, disobeying his parents, but that wasn't the first time he did that at all)!

"I'm glad you're back, Samuel!" said a voice behind him.

The young man did not hear at first. Was this another hallucination (he was getting quite a lot since...)? There was no female presence other than Arashi, who was way too high to be heard if she spoke in this tone, Sera, who was way too busy mixing the contents of her bowl in that 'Kitchen' and...

...Aequora...?

The young man turned around.

Another hallucination, no doubt.

"Hey there, lad!" greeted Norrington, smiling and waving at the young man from his own ship. "Welcome back! I'm glad you're safe," he smiled.

The young man could not help but notice the fact that the _Success _looked in much better shape than the _Insert Name Here_, and that Norrington was holding the helm in the place of Jack Sparrow, who was with the others at the reunion with William Turner and his friends.

"What are you doing there? Aren't you with Dad-William Turner?" the young man inquired, suddenly stuttering with the words.

He had to learn to keep his mouth shut on these kinds of things, since he had already started... It was best to keep his identity secret from everyone...

"No, someone has to stay here and guard the ship," shrugged the ex-Commodore, not showing any sign of curiosity over the discussion at all. Although he had gained numerous Pirate traits, Norrington kept his stoic manners and kept his face undisturbed when he stopped smiling and started thinking about his duties. "Besides, if it is a matter in which they do not wish me to take part in, I respect that," he added, continuing to study the map he had spread on that stainless deck of his. "How was your stay on the _Dutchman_? I must admit that when I saw William Turner welcome Karen on his ship, I was reassured by the thought the Captain had not sentenced you to death, like Davy Jones would have," he said, loud enough for only the young man to hear.

Samuel felt relieved that at least James had been worried about him, and continued on mopping the floor he had worked so hard on making sparkling countless times before. "T'was okay," he admitted, '_despite having to rot in the brig for a short period of time_,' he added in his thoughts, but said nothing more. "What did you, Jack and the girls do during my absence?" he asked, suddenly curious.

Indeed, since lately, his conversations seemed to be revolving around her, the young man was wondering where Aequora was.

"The girls have been--" started Norrington, but suddenly, he froze, glaring at something behind him.

It seemed like the girl had not been slacking off while he was gone... but... why had Norrington stopped talking all of a sudden? Samuel looked behind him, wondering who could have caused this unusual behavior: William Turner Senior, also known as Bootstrap Bill, who was waving at the young Pirate Prince from the _Dutchman_.

"Mister Turner!" his grandfather shouted, not paying attention to the man he had killed back when he had gone crazy. The young man wasn't sure whether to leave the deck as it was right now (it was as clean as could be, just, not as clean as he had hoped for it to be) and join his grandfather, who seemed to have something to tell him, or to stay here and continue to make the floor sparkle.

Thinking that his young friend was hesitating because of his own presence, Norrington waved at Samuel to go from where he was. "Go, Samuel. It seems that Bootstrap Bill has need of your assistance," he noticed, as he drew his attention back to his map. After all, he knew that Bootstrap Bill had gone mad when he had heard of Will's death (which was not true at that time). "I won't tell Karen that you disobeyed her either, if that's what you're worried about," he added quickly, seeing as the young man still seemed uncertain.

This convinced Samuel that Norrington didn't really mind that he chose his grandfather over his mother's friend, and he jumped over to the Seamen's ship, joining the Coxswain next to a mossy chase-gun. "What is it, Bootstrap?" he inquired, not wanting to waste time. If this went quick enough, he could be at his post when Karen came out of that door...

"Samuel Turner," Bootstrap smiled as he put a hand over his shoulder. Why was he calling him like this? Was it because he had discovered Samuel's true identity? "It's a funny thing, one of my two grand..." but he was suddenly interrupted by a shout coming from the Crow's Nests, high up there in the sky.

"THE _ENDEAVOUR_ IS COMING!" screamed all the Lookouts from the three ships. "SHE'S COMING RIGHT AT US!" added Arashi's voice.

The young man looked around, and saw the East India Trading Company's ship, the _Endeavour_, most probably conducted by Lord Cutler Beckett or Mercer. Its sails were all ready, catching the wind as much as possible and getting closer by the minute. Right next to the sail seemed to be a dark spot in the sky, but the young man wasn't sure, the ship was still a bit too far away for him to verify his theory.

'_Saved by the alarm...!_'

"You'll tell me later, okay, Bootstrap?" he quickly said. "I have my own Captain to follow right now."

As soon as he got on the _Insert Name Here_'s deck, Arashi and he started readying the sails of their own ship. Jack Sparrow, Leanne, Makoto and Karen emerged from William Turner's cabin as quickly as possible, not taking the time to ensure of the truthfulness of their Watchmen's sayings, but rushing to their respective vessels. The _Flying Dutchman_'s Captain came out as well, but stayed on his ship. The Seamen were also emerging from their ship, ready for an encounter.

"Remember, Will, whatever you happens," started to shout Jack Sparrow, "don't do anything stupid!" he finished, installing himself to the Helm. "Don't say anything stupid..." he added, after a taking a moment to think about what else he could advice his friend.

"Arashi, get back up there, Samuel, ready the cannons, just in case," Makoto commanded in a very calm voice, and the Pirate Prince obeyed, not wanting her to punish him. "James, Jack and Aequora, you guys make sure to follow us EVERYWHERE, or else, you will regret it," the Helmsmate promised, though it was clear this threat only applied to one of the three people on the other ship. "What are the chances that we get the hell out of here safely, Leanne?" inquired Makoto, turning the helm. "Where are we going, Karen?" the Coxswain demanded as well, but the Captain was busy grinning as she stared at their opponents' ship with her telescope.

"Farewell!" waved Leanne as they started drifted them off, before she started studying the sky. "Because of the wind, I'd say that only if we use **that**, we can make it. They have the advantage of this breeze, and we're in no condition to fight," she argued. "We can just tow the _Success_ to our ship, and we'll make it," she advised.

No condition? Did they mean that they were in no shape? They looked quite healthy to him (Sera seemed as normal as she ever was, Leanne was still as overexcited as she ever was and Arashi was still as stoic as ever)! Was their present 'condition' due to their latest 'adventure' without him, that

"Even without Lucy," started Sera, who had come upstairs to help them out with the rest of the preparation of the rig, "we'll travel far enough so we'll be able to maintain our advantage over them," she predicted to Karen. "Hey, Karen?" she called out, curious as she started sending glances towards the _Endeavour_. "What are you staring at?" she also asked, as Samuel passed by, keeping the cords together.

"Use **that** then," added Jack Sparrow, who, by the looks on his face, had absolutely no idea of what **that** was, but was interested in what it could give him. Plus, if it was something that could help them escape Beckett, the _Pearl_'s ex-Captain was probably going to be happy.

"She's right there," Karen answered, putting her telescope away as she waved at Will, whom she knew was not going to let Beckett catch him (if it was the _Dutchman_ the wicked Lord was coming for).

Who was the Captain talking about?

Makoto smirked. "Okay then. Tow the _HMS Success_ at once, and then, Aequora, please lead Samuel, Jack and James to their quarters, in Karen's cabin," she commanded.

The girls still didn't seem to trust the young man enough to let him see what they were planning to do! They didn't even seem to trust James or Jack in this secret! Even though this was the first time that they met, Aequora pushed him first inside Karen's cabin, along with Jack Sparrow and James Norrington. She did not even take the time to look at him or to greet him, as Arashi, Makoto, Leanne and Sera had. When entering the room, the female pirate dragged him aside, letting Jack and James roam around Karen's quarters free (still keeping an eye on the closet).

"Wh-What do you want?" he asked her.

What was happening? Was she going to kill him with the bag that he had given her to keep for him?

...His bag?!

"Samuel..."

...was this why he kept thinking of Aequora? Because... he had been thinking of his bag all this time, worrying about its safety?

"I..." she started saying, obviously hesitant. What was she going to tell him?

Because of the curtains being closed, he wasn't sure how she looked, but even though it was her honey voice, it didn't seem to be her. Aequora never looked so undecided in front of him... What had gotten into her during his stay on the _Dutchman_ exactly? What had happened to the others so that even Leanne and Makoto would refuse a promise to fight against the _Endeavour_?

"_So, met any girls you like? I hope she's no pirate,"_ William Turner's voice echoed in his mind.

"What?" he demanded. "What is it? Can you give me my bag now?" the young man asked, twitching a little, wondering if she was going to hit him.

She was a pirate after all.

"_And... This Aequora girl also, seems quite..." _resonated the _Flying Dutchman_'s voice in his head.

"I need to talk to you, Samuel," she articulated with difficulty, not even looking at him.

**

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I bet you guys are wondering what she's going to tell him. Well, I'm not telling XD  
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one.  
See you next month, if you're lucky.


	20. Chapter 19: Plenty of fishes in the sea

**!!! GUYS, I'M BACK FROM CRYING IN THE CORNER BECAUSE OF YOUR LACK OF COMMENTS !!!**

**Dudes, it's been so long since I updated. And I don't even have proof to back up with my long hiatus. I did modify the story so it was written "II" which means "Inactive" for now. But I guess peeps just thought it was 2 as in a sequel.**  
**As I must have mentioned, I do have a series of things that excuse my long absence (school being one of those, my maybe going to university, my travels, my homework, though during my breaks, I never quite took the time to write for PM, so here goes. This chapter's pretty much something I used like a filler or something. I don't mind of you guys flame me for the lack of action. I'm JUST getting back into the mood of writing.  
The next thing is: HAPPY BIRTHDAY *BELATED NOW that it's 12h08 AM here* TO MY FRIEND, to whom this chapter is dedicated to.  
One last thing: I will try to write more often and go back to posting at least one chapter per week or month. Please be patient with a broke student and feel free to encourage me if you think I'm pitiful (which I'm trying to be so you guys can give me some comments). **

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**The Purple Moon**

**Part 19: **Plenty of fish in the sea

By: CrystallicPrincess

Outside the Captain's cabin, from the windows, one could see that the sky had suddenly gotten closer to what looked like a storm. The waves, from what one could see from the windows once again, were everything but calm, and threatened the ships in the area by rocking them violently. From outside, they could hear Karen's shouts, rum demands and orders. Jack Sparrow was pacing back and forth, his back at them for a moment, with what seemed to be a worried expression on his face. Was he wondering what was going to happen to him if Beckett caught him? James Norrington, in the meantime, pointed out that the _Flying Dutchman_ had vanished into the sea already, and that they should be leaving as soon as possible as well.

"I've provided enough delay but..." Leanne's voice, one who knew her could guess that even though she knew they weren't in shape for a fight, she regretted not being able to get a revenge on Mercer, who was, without any doubt, on the _Endeavour_, was tainted with a feeling that the young man was not able to identify through the muffled noise of the waves. "Without Lucy..."

...Of course... so the Sea Witch's boat was all just talk? Or was it someone missing that was making a difference in today's chase? Was Lucy the Sea Witch after all? Or did they all have certain Powers that could help the ship move as fast as it does when they are using it together...? How could Leanne possibly have given them delay anyways?

"...and with another ship towed to ours..." added Arashi, as strident as muffled, Samuel knew that she was most probably standing on the Crow's Nest, screaming as loudly as possible for them to hear her.

"It's impossible, we can't keep this up..." concluded Sera's voice, coming up from the exterior of the Captain's quarters. For the first time perhaps, surprisingly to Samuel, the Cook seemed to be doing something totally unrelated to cooking. The three of them were either talking to Makoto or to Karen, since they seemed to have the most authority on deck.

As if she was oblivious to what was happening on board and over board, Aequora tightened her grip on the Prince of Pirates' arm, to get his attention, apparently. "Listen, I'll only say this once, okay, Samuel?" she started by saying, with a tone that suggested him to listen to what she was going to say or...

"We can't," agreed Karen's voice from outside her lodge, who seemed to have her face glued on the glassed door leading to her cabin, as if she was trying to see if Jack Sparrow or anyone else had dared venture in her treasure room, "we must," she completed, and they could hear, from her footsteps, that she was leaving the area and climbing the stairs to join Makoto at the helm. "Ready?" she demanded. There was no response from the other shipmates. Perhaps their reply was muffled by the cacophony of the ocean, or perhaps Karen just **knew** when her friends were ready, because she shouted: "Go!"

Turning his attention back to his crew member, Samuel nodded, paying as close attention to what his friend was going to say as possible. After all, he knew what was going to happen, and what Aequora seemed to want to tell him was probably much more important (it seemed really important, at the very least). The girls were going to use **that**, they were going to outrun whatever ship that was coming their way, they were going to speed up, as if there was a wind for them exclusively and disappear in the horizon. "Y-yeah..." he answered, nodding. What could be so important at a moment like this, he wondered.

"All right, here goes..." Aequora began, inhaling a little before muttering what she was going to tell him.

And suddenly, the door burst open. The light coming from outside blinded the young people for a second, and one or two silhouettes got in between the "YOU BETTAH NOT HAVE TOUCHED MY TREASURE, YOU FILTHY LITTLE..." started Karen, as she stepped inside, only to be interrupted by Arashi, who came in at the same time.

"Everyone, back on deck. Draw your weapons, where you're going, you'll need 'em," she commanded, pushing them out of the Captain's quarters, and closing the door behind them, staying inside with Karen.

"W-wait!" Samuel started, but she had slammed the door behind them already, preferring, he guessed, to stay inside with Arashi and devise a good back-up plan. However, before the young man could turn around, bang on the door and claim his place in the shelter, he turned face to face with a Blue Coat's blade threatening his throat. "Uh-oh..."

"MOVE, SAMUEL!" Fortunately for the young boy, Aequora had unsheathed her sword already, and she pushed him aside as her blade clashed on his opponent's.

On the other vessel already, ready to fight for the freedom of their second ship, James, his back to Jack Sparrow, was defending himself against the invader and was gaining territory on the boat. At their right was Leanne, who was having fun counting the number of bad guys that she was fending off, comparing her number with Sera's and Makoto's. She was obviously racing with the Cook on who was going to reach to the _Endeavour_ (and probably getting to Mercer and Beckett) first. Meanwhile, Aequora was still trying to fight the opponent that was rightfully the young Pirate Prince's and didn't look like she needed his help.

The young man was still looking around for a familiar mossy ship when suddenly, a shriek pierced the noise of clashing swords. "MOVE YOUR STUPID BUTT, EUNUCH, OR ELSE...!" shouted Makoto from the helm, who was shaking off the few Blue Coats who had already gotten to the stern and trying to seize control of the Sea Witch's ship.

Obviously, the Helmsmate was staring right at him, and her half-finished threat made its way through the young man's brain and he unsheathed his sword, ready to help his comrades. "But... why... why isn't... the _Flying Dutchman_ helping us...?" he whispered, as he eliminated the few men who were trying to get to the Captain's quarters.

"It's because Will has other things to worry about, dumb a$$!" whispered another voice behind him, from the cabin. It was most probably Karen, for he had never heard Arashi curse the way pirates usually cursed. "Now get your butt out there and fight like a man... an eunuch... or... whatever you are..." she added in the same tone. "If you let the ship to Bloody Beckett, I'm going to roast you alive," she promised.

The young man shook his head and decided to obey his Captain's orders, placing himself between the Blue Coat and the gate to Karen's treasures. Next to him, Aequora had finished at least three adversaries off already, and was taking on two gentlemen at the same time now. He couldn't keep up with Leanne and Sera's numbers and fighting style from where he was, but he could see the bodies that were piling up around them. The Navigator and the Cook were now quite close to the _Endeavour_, which had towed itself to the _Insert Name Here_.

...but there was no sign of Beckett or Mercer (probably much to Leanne's discontentment)...

"This one doesn't seem too tough. Let me at him, boys." The first adversary was the skinniest, and seemed like he was the most skilled one, because the others left him alone with the pirate and headed for the helm, to rescue their fellow Blue Coats.

Samuel didn't even think of worrying for Makoto. He knew it was bad to over-estimate the girls' capacity, seeing as what had happened with the previous Rig Master, but the young man couldn't help it. He just couldn't imagine any of these girls (or anyone in his surroundings) die... William Turner could NOT die unless someone found the Chest in which he had kept his heart (which was with Elizabeth Swan at the moment), and his wife (the Pirate King herself) could hardly die herself (she had promised him that she would come back, after all... and Elizabeth Swan always kept her promises). Karen and Jack seemed both to be cowards and would run away as soon as the moment was opportune. Arashi and James would fight off any opponent, and it didn't seem like they were willing to give up their lives just so that Beckett could fulfill Melusina's dreams (who would, indeed, sacrifice for a bad Goddess' wishes?). Leanne and Sera seemed invincible. Briefly put, just like Aequora, they seemed all bulletproof.

"Don't underestimate me," the young man said, putting on a fighting stance.

The young man blocked his opponent's attack, and made him back off a little with another little parry. The adversary was smirking now, as if he had seen Samuel's weakness and that he was going to use it against him. He jumped in front of the young man, blocked his blade and pressed the clashed swords towards the Pirate Prince's chest.

...now Samuel himself seemed to be another case (he had almost died once before after all...).

"You are not that bad, kid. But you can do better," he predicted, as he increased the pressure, making Samuel move until his back met the door. "It'd be best if I deliver you to Lord Beckett alive," he added, and yet, smiled in a way to show that he wasn't going to let that happen.

And indeed, there was hardly any way the young man could think of to just escape from this man's grasp!

Behind them, Aequora was forcing her own opponent towards Samuel's fight, until the man she was fighting suddenly bumped on Samuel's opponent's back, making the latter sink his blade into the wooden door, a few millimetres next to Samuel's neck, while Samuel's sword flew in the air, and was caught by his 'friendly' shipmate. "HEY! WATCH IT!" he shouted, turning around, making it the perfect opportunity to escape.

"Sorry, Lambert, this girl's almost worse than them Amazons..." apologized his colleague Blue Coat.

Even though this term made the blood rush to his face and created images in his head based on his memories of his past adventures in the infamous land of Amazons, Samuel took it as the opportune moment to get away from his no good position, slipping on the ground and rolling to the side, next to Aequora. "Thanks, Aequora..." he muttered, when she gave him his weapon. He felt good about not being sliced into pieces and bad about being saved by a girl (not that this was his first time)... It was the second time she saved him today... when was he going to be able to make it up to her...?!

The two Blue Coats looked at each other for a fraction of second at first, and then, faced the two young pirates now, grinning. They were both experienced men, and they were fighting two teenagers who had probably only been able to slit few men's throat. "Isn't it romantic? The damsel in distress being saved by the Princess in Shining Armour..." commented the one they now knew as Lambert, smiling even though his 'prey' had just escaped him.

Samuel felt like his head was going to explode. It made him feel even worse because he could hear Karen's roar of laughter from behind the door that was now at Lambert's back. "Shut up, you...!" he said and charged.

The skilled Blue Coat avoided his attack and attempted to send him a kick, but the young man did his best to avoid the attack, rolling on the ground to knock the man off his feet with a kick at his ankles. The young man stood up once again, and tried to stab his enemy, when suddenly, Karen burst out of her cabin, and kicked the crap out of his prey.

"OUT OF MY WAY, YOU BASTARDS OF A SCUMBAG!!!!!" she shouted, violently kicking one of them overboard.

Lambert smiled when seeing Karen coming out. He kicked Aequora off her feet and slashed the air with his sword one last time before winking goodbye to a perplexed Samuel. Somehow, the moment they caught sight of the Captain of the _Insert Name Here_, the Blue Coats jumped off board into the nothingness of the ocean. The look on Makoto's face was a mix of disbelief and disgust.

"What are they?" she asked them as they joined her on the upper deck. "They'd rather die drowned than being caught by Karen?" she wondered, completely aghast by the revelation.

Arashi climbed up to the crow's nest, on the Lookout's post. She was glaring at something in the horizon as her crewmates were checking themselves for any injury of any sort. Even from the altitude she was in, the young lad could still distinctly hear her swear: "FUCK" from where he was, safe on the deck.

"What is it this time?" asked Makoto in a scream louder than Arashi's swearing. "We lost someone?" The Helmsmate was still directing their ship through the waves.

"IT'S _THE SUCCESS_!!" Arashi pointed at a point in the horizon, at starboard.

Samuel couldn't see anything, but if their Lookout said it was the ex-_HMS Success_, he had to trust her. Karen did more than trust her, she had started imitating her friend, swearing a little more and using more coloured expressions. Makoto's expression went from disgust to shock. Lastly, Aequora's face had frozen.

Snapping out of her daze before Samuel had the time to react himself, Karen took the helm from Makoto, who started barking her endless commands: everyone had to inspect every INCH of the ship, in case there were more Blue Coats around, or hanging on the any cords. She wanted them eliminated, one way or another. Meanwhile, apparently, their Captain was going to work on some miracle it seemed to catch up with both _Endeavour_ and _Success_. Without any doubt, the second was probably pursuing the first, which would be the only reason why James Norrington could possibly disobey the girls' law.

Samuel didn't understand. "What's up with that?"

It seemed to take Aequora all her might to gather her patience and explain to him in a single question: "Do you know who was on the _Success_?"

It didn't take long for the lad to answer. "Leanne, Sera, James and Jack, why?" answered Samuel, surprised she could ask this question when her eyesight was as good as his.

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR FLIRTING, LOVE BIRDS! RUN TO YOUR STATIONS-- OH wait..." their First Mate stopped. She lowered her tone, staring at Karen for awhile, as if she was worried the Captain had lost concentration. Frankly, Samuel saw nothing unusual in the Pirate Lady's behaviour or technique at holding the helm, but he made sure not to say anything. He was already in trouble as it seemed. "You don't have any stations..." she reminded both herself and him. "Both of you just prepare the cannons. I want them ready, cleaned and ready to operate the MOMENT we catch up with them."

Now that he came to think about it, the people he had just named were gone. It meant basically that... that... they were fighting Beckett and Mercer all alone! As he helped Aequora around the deck guns, the Pirate Prince looked around to his crewmates. None of them seemed to worry for the sake of their shipmates. It was a feeling that made them believe in their friends' abilities in taking care of lowly ranked goons like the Blue Coats. But Aequora and Makoto seemed quite worried about their own future if Karen did not manage in catching up with the Endeavour at the right timing. Why was that?

When he attempted to know a little bit more, his friend looked at him with exasperation. So he hadn't understood it the first time, why couldn't she answer him more clearly? "Samuel," her voice snapped, and it almost seemed like she wanted to hit him, "tell me, do you know how to find your way through these waters?" Her voice seemed a little worried. "I don't even know where we are right now..." commented Aequora, as if to give him a hint.

Why did she ask such a question? "No..." he shook his head, thinking a little bit. He had no experience on the subject and he had to admit that he had let Jack Sparrow, Leanne, Barbossa and the rest of the people have that job without really paying attention to them. Did he have to? And then, she looked at him, as if to scan his saying, whether it was true or not. He felt the need to justify himself: his mother had never let him after what had happened **that **day... "I haven't gotten the proper..."

And then, it hit him like a whale's tale splashing the calm surface of the waters. Leanne was the Navigator of the crew! Jack Sparrow and James Norrington also knew the ropes of the job... but none of them (not that he knew of that was) really knew how these waters worked... By the way Makoto was insulting her friend, Samuel guessed that their Captain was not going to be able to predict which current would lead them where, and whether they should meet with another ship or not. From the way Makoto had been talking, he deduced none of the people present would be able to travel on the sea unless Leanne, James Norrington or Jack Sparrow caught up with them.

...If they didn't starve in the middle of the sea first... Sera had also left with the trio of Navigators... and from the way they had been venerating her 'Works of Culinary Art', the young man guessed none of them knew how to cook decently either. At least then, he would be a little more useful... He knew enough about cooking to get them something to eat... but would they really last long?

"WE'RE CATCHING UP TO HER!" announced Arashi, delighted, from her Lookout post.

Samuel looked up and saw that indeed, both the ships were not so far away from them now. He dared himself wonder how the heck Karen had managed to get them through the currents and catch up to them so quickly, but another voice inside him reminded him that with these girls, he couldn't possibly make the mistake of being surprised at every miracle they somehow managed to produce.

After all, they were the _Sea Witch's Ship_, were they not?

Makoto took the helm back, smiling at their Captain as if Karen had done all the work. "Good job, Captain, good job!" she complimented.

And her interlocutor, looking strangely exhausted, went back to her quarters. "No one bothers me until we reach them, I need some time to prepare another plan," she grumbled. "Anyone not respecting this will be shot in the middle of the head and will be thrown off board immediately, you hear me!?" she added, rather fiercely.

Makoto took the helm back, smiling at their Captain as if Karen had done all the work. "Good job, Captain, good job!" she complimented.

And her interlocutor, looking strangely exhausted, went back to her quarters. "No one bothers me until we reach them, I need some time to prepare another plan," she grumbled. "Anyone not respecting this will be shot immediately, you hear me!?" she added, rather fiercely as she slammed the door.

Her glare was directed towards Samuel who felt an icily awkward chill run down his spine and instantly wished he could have taken his valuable bag out before she barricaded herself inside her fortress.

"OKAY GUYS!" Makoto, who had taken their vessel in charge now that their Captain was basically retiring, shouted to them all. "PREPARE THE CANNONS ON **STARBOARD** AND READY YOUR WEAPONS FOR A TOUGH FIGHT! WE WON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH PUTTING SUCH A LAME DIVERSION ON US!"

Following her orders, Aequora and Samuel headed towards the cannons and started loading the latter. Aequora would prepare the powder while Samuel loaded them with the cannonballs.

Makoto glanced up to the Lookout Post and shouted: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SCUMBAG?! COME DOWN HERE AND HELP OUT, YOU LAZY LOOKOUT YOU!" The Watchman must have answered something, because though none of Aequora or Samuel heard her, Makoto continued shouting, as if Arashi had actually answered: "WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU...? DON'T MAKE ME COME AND TAKE CARE OF YOU MYSELF!" she threatened, a fist brandished at the Watchman. "COME ON DOWN HERE AND FIGHT IF YOU'RE MAN ENOUGH!" she shouted again, after a brief pause.

It was a weird choice of words, but then again, this ship was weird, so what was the point in arguing?

Arashi, apparently pissed off, slid down the central mast and was about to walk towards the upper deck when Aequora stopped her and gave her the long piece of rod that was used to put the cannon balls down the deck gun. The Lookout still glared at the Helmsmate as they proceeded. Samuel had already sponged all of the cannons with care previously, and now, all that had been left to do was to layer the gunpowder and to place the cannonballs where they belonged.

At starboard, what they could see was the ships. The two of them had seemed pretty empty, as they were towed by the waves, completely inert of activity. But as they got closer, Samuel noticed the figures of his friends and his enemies fighting each other. They seemed so concentrated it felt wrong to disturb them. Arashi was the one who called Karen out, much to Samuel's satisfaction. He knew that Makoto would have sent him just to get him killed.

"So what's the plan?" he heard Arashi ask the now smiling Captain.

"Go in, kill, rob to our heart's content," answered Karen, staring at the _HMS Endeavour_ with her telescope. "Set it aflame too, after we've finished doing whatever we want to do with it, they're too occupied with defending their puny lives to notice what happens with their ship, so..." It's strange, no matter how many times we burn that damned ship, it will always reappear in your dreams, haunt you until it gets its revenge..."

"Well?" asked Makoto as she launched the anchor.

"Well, today's not the day she's taking us down," answered the Captain. "Aequora and Samuel get the _Success_ and see if James needs any help. Makoto, man the ship, darling," she smiled and got away quickly before the Helmsmate bit her. "Arashi and I will do some snooping around in Beckett's ship. Leanne and Sera know we're here, they've been waving nonstop."

Of course.

Once the deck guns were all ready, and Makoto safely on board of their ship, grumbling at how she wasn't going to have any fun today, Samuel and Aequora landed on the _Success_' deck. The moment they arrived, they caught Jack Sparrow finishing throwing bodies off board. He stopped in the process, stared at them for a second, then, went back grumbling to his work.

"Norrington, we got company!" he called out to the man on the upper deck.

On the _Endeavour_, the battle fuelled on between Lord Beckett and Sera, and Mercer and Leanne, but Arashi and Karen were nowhere to be seen. It was as if they didn't care at all about their mates' whereabouts and only cared about robbing the ship from its valuables. Or was there something else they had kept from him, he wondered.

The ex-Commodore was fighting against the last Blue Coat. Samuel ran to his help as Aequora pushed the last corpse off with Jack, asking about why he had done this. While Samuel dodged the blow, he heard Jack's answer: "I was using Turner's idea of the crumbs. Figured the trail of bodies would lead you to us sooner or later," he answered. To this, Aequora had to sigh.

"Good timing, Turner," James said as Samuel positioned himself to his side. He was panting as if he was going to take his last breath soon. Norrington fell behind, leaving the young lad the last Blue Coat to himself.

On the other vessel, Leanne had jumped on a sail and ripped it in her descent. She soon joined Mercer, who seemed to be running away from her, into Beckett's cabin, but he was probably trying to protect the Captain's quarters from the pirates Karen was. Instead of joining him inside, however, she closed and locked the door from the outside using a strong rope and knotting skills. She then turned to the hole in the deck and jumped in it.

Meanwhile, Sera was busy with Beckett still on the platform. They seemed to be talking as they fought together. It was a little weird, seeing as Sera was holding a frying pan in one hand and a sword in the other. She was pretty reluctant in using a sword, but the pan had a shorter range and until she could manage to cross the range without being harmed by Beckett's own sword...

Much to Samuel's horror, he recognized the traits of this Blue Coat who had turned out to be his opponent the moment he was face to face with him. "Lambert?" Hadn't the man died at sea yet (or at least, wasn't he still in the water they had left behind)? How could he POSSIBLY have been here all this time?

The Cook had brought the battle up to the upper deck and had started playing with the helm, making the ship unsteady in the waters it had anchored in. The imbalance made everyone onboard dizzy apparently, but Beckett still went at it and struck Sera's arm. The blood spread like a rose opening its petals up in fast forward over her shirt. She ripped her sleeve and licked her wound, as if she wanted to disgust the Lord she was facing. While he was busy wondering what in the world possessed this girl, it was her turn to strike: she kicked him on the ground and slashed his torso as he rolled up on the deck.

Leanne reappeared again with a barrel of dark powder she was spreading everywhere on the deck as Mercer jumped out of the quarters' windows, shattering the glass over some gun powder, but it wasn't as if it was going to do anything. He attacked the Navigator head on and was able to have her cornered soon enough.

"Hurry up, or do you want me to take the glory from you, eunuch?" Sparrow demanded from the lower deck.

Karen and Arashi reappeared out of nowhere on the deck. The Captain kicked Mercer's guts and his sword flew into the waters, while the Lookout brought another barrel of gun powder on the upper deck. What were they up to exactly?

Sera, on the upper deck again, was stuck with what she had been doing at the beginning: gauging her opponent's strength and weakness as they circled each other, and she was also talking to him about some unknown subject. She seemed impatient to get revenge for him wounding her.

Aequora leapt on the body of Norrington. It was as if he was sleeping, but with breathing difficulties. His fellow Pirate Lord, Jack Sparrow, didn't seem to care about his whereabouts either. The blood covering the upper deck at Samuel's feet and Norrington's weird dismissal only had the worst scenario for the young lad: it wasn't only the Blue Coats' blood.

Leanne nodded to Karen and joined Makoto on board of the _Insert Name Here_ with Arashi as the Captain started waving at their Cook while keeping Mercer from getting his old hands on any kind of weapon at his reach. Makoto then jumped aboard the _Endeavour_ to drag their Captains back to their ship.

The Helmsmate's unexpected arrival and equally sudden departure attracted Sera's attention, because she finally saw the signs that Leanne and Arashi had been sending to her. Beckett smiled as her attention was now divided and rolled on the black floor, taking his sword back now, but catching Makoto's impatient glare, she quickly retreated and grabbed a rope, swinging herself on board of the _Insert Name Here_'s deck as Makoto took out a pistol.

"We haven't any doctor or physicians that can help him at the moment," continued Aequora, as she lifted him up with the help of Jack Sparrow. At that moment, James Norrington opened his eyes. "Don't worry, we'll help you out."

Makoto shot on the ground before Beckett could find a rope. He jumped inside his quarters instead of jumping off board, like any man would. What was inside his room that was so important? Soon afterwards, Makoto shot the black powder covering the deck and soon enough, there was an explosion and the flames caught to the _Success_' sails.

"Oi! Time to leave!" decided Jack as he caught a random rope and swung himself on board of the _Coraline_, where Makoto was going to chain him to a deck gun.

The Blue Coat Samuel had called out winked to him yet again, in the same manner as he had done before and jumped off board. He wasn't even worried for his boss, their Lord Cutler Beckett! Samuel had no time to ponder at this and rushed to Norrington's side.

Samuel looked around as the _Endeavour _sank under the waves that were swallowing it up. It wasn't his problem.

"He got hit by a bullet and he's lost a lot of blood," diagnosed Aequora.

There was no trace of Beckett in the waters either. That wasn't his problem either.

He nodded to Aequora and helped her bring the ex-Commodore to the ramp of the deck. "Let's hurry."

The flames were eating the deck up at an incredible speed. Whatever was on their way, they reached it with their fiery hands and ate it up.

"No time for that now, kids." James Norrington smiled as he took the rope Jack Sparrow had sent back to them. "I've seen worst, trust me," and with that, he swayed himself over to Makoto's side.

Seeing as the wounded had safely arrived on the boat, Aequora and Samuel each took a rope and left the burning ship, where Makoto was yelling, where Norrington was already being treated by Sera, Arashi and Leanne and while Jack Sparrow was still chained to the damned cannon. The young lad landed safely indeed on deck, but Aequora was still hanging in the air before the rope caught into flames and dropped her into the sea.

"WHAT THE--" she had started screaming to get their attention. He saw her plunge into it, the dark abyss. But she never came up.

"AEQUORA!" Samuel shouted as he ran to the edge. Everyone dropped everything they were doing and followed him (safe for Jack, who was already there, and Norrington, who was unconscious). He instinctively threw his bag on the ground, praying Leanne would take care of it and jumped in the waters.

He was soon joined by the Navigator herself, the best swimmer of their crew. Together, they plunged in the cold waters, but there was, strangely, though from where he could still swim, he saw the remnants of the _Endeavour _and the _Success_, there was still no sign of their friend. Had she been washed away by the waves?

Night had fallen upon them all, rendering the waters tenebrous and unsecure. He was coughing but ready to plunge back into the icy waters when Makoto shouted at them: "COME BACK HERE OR ELSE I'M GOING TO COME THERE MYSELF AND BITE YOU!"

Leanne took his defence: "IF YOU COME HERE, YOU'LL BE IN YOUR ELEMENT, MAKOTO!" she said, referring to her nickname. "COME IF YOU DARE, YOU HATE WATER!"

...A pirate that hated water... It was worse than Jack Sparrow's infamous reputation.

Sera joined in while preparing a medicine she thought effective for Norrington's wounds. "What she means is: come up, you're hungry and supper's ready. The sharks down there must be hungry too and if I recall well, Jack took our advice to heart and kicked some bodies down there correct?"

At the mention of 'food', Leanne came up and Samuel reluctantly followed. "Don't worry. If Aequora wasn't competent, we wouldn't have hired her," whispered the Navigator to him as they sat on the deck and dug in.

Samuel sat back on the deck and breathed like he had never done before. "But how could she have drifted away so fast?" he wondered.

"The sea has many secrets, just like a woman," said a partially healed Norrington. "That cream you applied on my wound looks utterly disgusting, Sera. What was in there?"

"Secret from the Kitchens, stay in the Kitchens, Norrington. You never ask a woman their secrets," retaliated the Cook, shaking her head as she served him his share of the food.

"How can you guys be so..."

"Calm?" suggested Jack.

"Weird?" continued Leanne.

"How can you guys NOT care about Aequora?"

Karen shrugged while munching on a chicken wing. "She's a pirate."

"So what?" asked Norrington, pretty interested in this himself.

"She made us promise to stick to the Code," remembered Makoto as she took her share of chicken meat. "If a man -- or a woman, but it's mostly men -- falls behind, they are left behind."

The Captain nodded to the mention of the Code of Pirates. "Seeing as the b*tch was in the cabin, I bet Aequora's nowhere close to the gates of hell just yet. Have you forgotten that Will is somewhere underneath the surface of these waters?" reminded Karen, not even censoring herself to mention Beckett.

Samuel sighed. They might be right. Aequora said she was bulletproof. What if she was also, somehow, 'drowning-proof'? In any case, he promised himself he would put another grave on the hill of his house, and make tributes to her soul whenever he would see his father. Perhaps, indeed, William Turner had saved her? Could he believe in this miracle? "What would she want us to do then?"

"Stick with the plan we established at the beginning." The Navigator seemed determined on that point.

"Since Will knows we're here, that we've got an action plan, we should head to Shipwreck Cove and we'll establish whatever we want with the other Pirate Lords."

"What makes you think they will believe us and follow our very orders?" the Helmsmate asked to the Karen. Makoto ate faster than the others so she could stay at the helm longer. She seemed more than eager to come back to Shipwreck Cove. Jack Sparrow came and helped her with the help of his Compass.

"She's right. This is our first time as Pirate Lords. Barbossa, Elizabeth," she was looking at him for a second, "and Jack are the previous generation of Pirate Lords. They're the ones in the hierarchy that have most powers, too," Leanne added.

At that Jack raised his rum bottle and drank. "To plunders and fortune!"

"Shut up, we're the ones that know how to deal with Beckett and his lot. Even Barbossa will acknowledge that. The other Pirate Lords are bound to follow us as well," Karen raised her eyebrows and smirked at Leanne (who flinched) and Sera (who shrugged). "Besides that, Norrington, Lizzie and Jack are on our side."

"Wait, but Beckett's already dead."

They turned to Samuel as if he had said he was actually a girl (which he wasn't, but neither Jack, nor Karen would've been as surprised) and that he had been fooling them since the beginning.

All replied at the same time with a sharp: "No."

"He's not gone," added Karen with a negative shake of her head. "You've no idea..."

But Beckett himself had sunk with his ship...!


End file.
